Under the Moon
by Shelbey
Summary: AU. Seekers. Normal students by day, leather clad asskickers by night. With vampires on the loose throughout the allied nations, a select few amazing people have been chosen to keep the civilians safe. [SakuSasu, NaruHina, InoShika, Tenji, GaaOC, etc]
1. Prologue

**Title**: Under the Moon

**Author**: Hitachiin Hikaru

**Fandom**: Naruto

**Rating**: "T" for blood, violence, implying sexual content, and language

**Genre**: Action/Adventure/Supernatural

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any part of Naruto, including characters, cities, towns, scenarios, titles, or anything else about it you can think of. I just want to express my creative intent with this fic.

**Summary**: AU. Seekers. Normal students by day, leather clad ass-kickers by night. With vampires on the loose throughout the allied nations, a select few amazing people have been chosen to keep the civilians safe. SakuSasu, NaruHina, InoShika, Tenji, GaaOC

**A/N**: I wanted to write something with supernatural elements, and I love vampires so this AU came to mind. I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to R&R please!

Prologue

Some people don't believe anymore. They think that it's a thing of the past now, and when a dead body turned up with marks on their neck they push it away like it's nothing important. Like they shouldn't be worried. That is what _they_ call ignorance. Because, little do they know, they have to worry. They need to be aware. They should watch the signs that are all too obvious to the Seekers. Each and every one who is killed by the creatures has a special pain in all of the hunters' hearts because _they_ know they failed someone. It makes _them_, the Seekers, try harder.

And you're probably asking, who, exactly, are the Seekers? They are an underground organization trained specifically from birth to hunt and kill vampires. Eight different families have always been in this association, passed from parents to children throughout the years to keep the vampire population to a minimum. They comprise of Uchihas, the most prestigious and well known group of vampire hunters in the region, maybe even the world. Then there is the Hyuugas, almost as well known as the Uchiha family, with their extremely adept sensory skills and fighting techniques. Followed by the Yamanaka and Nara families, the former being adept in flowers and healing herbs, the latter the most intelligent line of people in the world. The Uzumaki family has been narrowed down to one person; one with a shady past and a dark secret only his closest friends know. The Haruno family is a long line of medical prodigies, and the last family has no surname, but they are amazing weapons specialists. Led by the famous Hatake Kakashi, the hunters were the best known in Fire Country. Of course, the other countries had their own ANBU unit. Wind Country, Lightning Country, Earth Country, and Water Country also had their own, which keep their individual populations to a minimum.

A formidable foe to the vampires, the organization, also called the ANBU of Fire Country, put up a great threat to them. The vampires had been crushed to the minimum population to prevent the loss of civilian human life, but recently, they have been growing steadily in numbers, much to the dismay of the esteemed ANBU. And now, here is their life as they try to hold back the blood suckers from destroying the delicate balance between humans and the supernatural.


	2. One Cold Night

Chapter 1: One Cold Night

"Think this is going to be another all-nighter?"

"Looks like it." A collective sigh sounded as six people crept on the roofs of their large village, their footfalls barely discernable on the wooden boards that made the covering of the houses. The half moon illuminated the scene, bathing the group in soft silver light.

An annoyed voice threatened, "It better not. I have a test tomorrow!"

"Did you study this time Tenten?" her partner asked, crouching behind a heat vent out of the way of the moonlight. His long, dark brown hair extended to his waist, pulled into a loose ponytail with the tie at the end. The bun-wearing girl turned to face him, an eyebrow cocked beneath her bangs.

Before she could answer, however, a loud, obnoxious voice called, "I want the next one! Dattebayo!"

"Screw you," an irritated accent answered, the owner flipping to the next building without a sound. His onyx hair sat on his head in spikes, with long bangs hanging on either side of his face.

"I don't wanna screw you Sasuke-teme," he told him, scowling angrily. A soft giggle sounded as a blue haired girl followed behind her blond partner, keeping well out of sight. "Keep close Hinata-chan." He waved back at her and she blushed slightly, not expect his concern.

"Three to your left Neji," a voice crackled over their speakers, accompanied soon by the clicking of a keyboard as his fingers passed quickly over it. "Hinata, Naruto, two more behind you."

She replied quietly, "Thanks Shikamaru."

"Sweet," Naruto said gleefully, pulling a gun from the holster on his right leg. He stood perfectly still, letting the shadow of a pole cover him. One of them flashed by him, and, grinning, he took the shot. The bullet had been dipped in Holy Water, and as soon as it entered the creature's skin he crumpled into fine, white ash. Doing a quick backflip, Hinata, still upside down in the air, fired her gun, letting the steel cartridge run through the other vampire's torso, and he met the same end as his friend. She landed gracefully upright and slid the weapon back into the holster on her upper thigh. "Nice shot Hinata-chan!"

She blushed and smiled slightly. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

Meanwhile, on the next building over Neji smirked as the vampire tried to over power him, their hands locked together in a realistic Mercy match. Suddenly the parasite turned to dust, and Tenten stood behind him a grin on her face and a set of scalpels dipped in the Holy Water twirling in her fingers. Neji nodded his thanks to her and shrugged in her welcoming. "Sasuke, they're coming your way. Brace yourself!"

"I got it," he replied coolly, turning to face the vampires with an impassive look on his face. They stopped, obviously startled by his abrupt halt. They looked very humanlike, save for their unnaturally pale skin. But, beneath the inhumanly beautiful features, they were blood thirsty killers, equipped with aberrant strength and agility, and of course, their venomous fangs. Sasuke wasn't worried; he's handled them a thousand times with no problems. He suddenly disappeared and they glanced around to find him. "Up here."

He fell from the sky onto one of them, stabbing his solid silver sword into the female's torso with ease. Uncharacteristically, the Uchiha dropped his guard, thinking he had disposed of them all, as the other vampire snuck behind him silently. Too late, he remembered, and turned to defend himself against the monster. A gunshot sounded and he abruptly turned to powder, leaving Sasuke with a bewildered expression on his face. "You're welcome," a voice told him, spinning a gun around in their hand. From the contours of her body he knew it was a woman, and from the color of her hair he knew exactly who it was. And boy was he pissed.

"Kick-**ass** Sakura-chan!" Naruto called to her, running up to the cherry headed woman excitedly. Hinata trailed after him looking a tiny bit upset, and the team congregated around the sharpshooter.

Shikamaru's voice told them, "Okay guys, great work. Time to come home."

Tenten groaned, "Joy. Just in time to stay up the **other** half of the night to study for that damn Chemistry quiz."

"I'll study with you Tenten," Sakura said stretching. "I have Iruka-sensei's quiz tomorrow too…" The rest of the group followed behind the two females, Sasuke glaring at the back of Sakura's head resentfully.

Outside the locker rooms, Sakura sat on a chair to await her teammate's exit from the room. As she sat there, she contemplated her actions during the mission and tried to figure out anyway she could have improved. If she had been faster, Sasuke wouldn't have been in danger in the first place, so first thing after school tomorrow she needed to work on speed training. A presence made itself known behind her and she grabbed his hand, fully prepared to flip him to the ground. "Hey, let me go."

Sakura jumped up, recognizing the voice, and saw Sasuke watching her with slight annoyance. "Oh, sorry Sasuke, I thought it might've been an intruder."

"You know, I don't like arrogant upstarts." She looked slightly taken aback, confused about whet he meant, and tilted her head to show her puzzlement. "I don't need saving, and I don't need your help. Just back off and let me take care of who I'm assigned to."

"Excuse me!" she hissed, annoyed. "Oh, I'm **so** sorry for saving your ass Sasuke! Maybe next time I'll let the guy kill you okay? Of **all** the people to talk of arrogance, Sasuke, you haven't a leg to stand on!" Tenten exited, pulling the last side of her hair back into her trademark buns and glanced between the two. Electricity seemed to form from the intensity of their glares, and she patted Sakura's shoulder to get her attention.

She questioned, "Are we going to study?" She nodded and, shooting the dark haired teen one last dirty look she followed the elder girl out the door. The Uchiha glared at the door long after she had left, clenching his fists angrily. **She **was calling **him** arrogant? Of all the nerve! It took him a moment before he realized Shikamaru was standing in front of him, an eyebrow cocked and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Earth to Sasuke, what is wrong?" he asked, tapping the boy's forehead.

The onyx haired of the two shook his head and ran a hand through said feature. "That girl is a pain in the neck, Shikamaru. Of all the people to pick as my partner…" He sighed and watched the genius with an annoyed expression. "Truth be told, I'd rather have **Naruto** as my partner than her."

He rolled his eyes. "Sasuke, she was the best suited for your partner. She's a brilliant marksman, though not as well as Tenten…" He sighed and gave him a dirty look when he realized Sasuke wasn't even paying attention to him anymore. "You won't believe how troublesome it was for Kakashi-san to get her Uchiha, be thankful." He turned on heel and headed back towards his office, passing by Neji, Ino, Hinata, and Naruto.

"Don't work too late Shikamaru," Ino ordered, crossing her arms. He made no reply, just turned the corner and headed for the tech department. She sighed and watched after him. "He's practically an insomniac, I swear. He needs to get more sleep…"

Neji glanced at his cousin and asked, "Hinata, do you want a ride home?"

She nodded, "Yes please." Naruto yawned and rubbed at his eyes. What a day that had been. Anymore like that and he'd have to skip a few. He laughed inwardly at the thought and shook his head. Yeah right. As if he'd miss a single night going vampire hunting with his friends.

He turned to Neji, Hinata, and Ino and told them, "See you guys in school, 'kay?"

"Night Naruto," Ino told him, waving. "I'm staying after to give Shika some company. He almost passed out from dehydration last time." She shook her head and turned back the way she came.

Hinata smiled, "Goodnight."

"Night," Neji mumbled to him after a nudge from his cousin.

"See ya Sasuke-teme," he called to the still angry teen, grinning at him.

"Hn," came his famous reply. The blond rolled his eyes. The guy was so egotistical that even his two letter answers were well-known. He hopped out the door energetically, eager to get home to his nice, comfortable bed. He slid into an old but still running yellow beetle car. He had won it in a Pokémon contest, and it adorned the likeness of Pikachu on it with the tail and ears sticking out of it.

Neji and Hinata, however, entered into a glossy, brand new, midnight blue Chrysler 300, gift to the Hyuuga from his uncle. The younger girl had a vanilla colored one, but it was being repaired because some red-haired idiot back ended her on the highway. Sleek leather interior, shiny paint job, the car just oozed 'Neji'. "Neji-nisan…" she asked her cousin, glancing at him with her pearl colored eyes. "Have I… improved at all?"

He blinked and looked at her for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road. "I think you have Hinata. That acrobatic feat you performed tonight was remarkable. Why do you ask?" She blushed and remained silent but he didn't press for more. _Probably to please her father_, he thought, sighing slightly. Hyuuga Hizashi seemed to be more interested in his nephew's development than his own daughter's. Which made him feel slightly uncomfortable around Hinata.

Finally home, Naruto burst open the front door of his apartment and collapsed into his bed, not even bothering to tug on his pajamas. He simply pulled his brown nightcap with the little face on over his head and fell asleep.


	3. Victims Due to High Tension

**A/N**: This is the real chapter 2, because the other one I had was the old version, and this is the updated version that I had on my other computer. I just forgot to transfer it over. So, the REAL chapter 2, enjoy!

Chapter 2: Victims Due to High Tension

Tenten slumped in her seat, staring at the test paper before her with a glum expression. "I can't believe I flunked that," she groaned, looking at the bright red _F_ at the top of the page with distaste. She glanced over at her seatmate's paper and saw with annoyance that Sakura got an _A+_ on the test. "You suck Sakura."

"Sorry Tenten," she said, sticking her tongue out at the weapon's mistress. "Maybe instead of daydreaming about Neji-san you should have been paying attention to our studying."

Blushing, the pink clad girl glanced around the room, her eyes resting on the always attentive Hyuuga as his pale eyes watched Iruka-sensei studiously. "I can't help it if he's one of the hottest guys in school," she argued, crossing her arms in annoyance. Sakura couldn't deny it, but she giggled at the brunette cheerfully.

"You wouldn't be talking about me now would you?" a voice asked from the desk behind theirs.

"No, not even close Naruto," Sakura replied, examining her nails and giving Naruto a grin. He slumped back in his seat and frowned. Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow at him and rolled his eyes, going back to sleep. _Mendo kusai…_ he thought with annoyance, _I can't believe Naruto woke me up…_

From the front of the class, Iruka told them, "Now, for those who failed today's examination, I hope you plan on studying next time. Your homework tonight is this worksheet. Take one on the way out please." The bell rang and the class left in an orderly fashion, grabbing the groundwork as they left he room.

"Oi, Shikamaru!" Naruto called, poking him in the side, "Wake up dude, class is over." He got up and stretched, scratching the back of his head absently.

He mumbled, "Wish I hadn't stayed so late now. That damn woman was right, I **am** an insomniac." Sakura and Tenten stood by the door, waiting for the two boys and they left together, heading for their meeting place where all the ANBU unit members met up. Each of them had gotten a text message from Kakashi, urgently ordering them to meet him there. The four spotted the rest of their crew already heading into the alley, and followed suit. The cherry haired girl passed by Sasuke without a word, and he pretended she didn't even exist. Sitting on a rock in the center was Kakashi, an eye patch over his left eye. His silver hair was mussed as usual and his face was masked.

"Kakashi-san, what's up?" Ino asked, crossing her arms. "I thought we didn't have to come until later tonight like usual."

He glanced up at her, his onyx eye scanning her blue ones. "That's true Ino, but I wanted to relay some news to the eight of you before I headed back." They all glanced at each other, then back to Kakashi. "We're going to be having a few visitors in the near future from Wind Country. I put in a request for some aid because of the population skyrocketing recently."

"Wind Country?" Sakura speculated, tapping her chin. "Who exactly did we get?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure, Sakura. We'll have to wait until they get here. In fact, only two of them were sent to help us." The man furrowed his brow and shook his head. Then what appeared to be a smiling expression he glanced at all of his comrades and said, "Why don't you all go home and do your homework or whatever until tonight. Okay?" They agreed and exited the secluded hiding spot. Neji and Shikamaru headed for the library to do their homework in peace. Hinata followed Ino to her house to tutor her in math and Naruto trailed after Tenten to practice his aim with her, leaving the angry teammates to glare at each other.

She told him icily, "Hello Sasuke."

"I have homework to do Sakura," he replied coldly, turning on heel and heading in the direction of the Uchiha district.

Her voice growled, "Stop right there Uchiha." He stopped, but didn't to face her. "Why do you hate me so much?" He winced and rolled his eyes, continuing to walk on the sidewalk. "Excuse me! Did you hear what I said?"

"You're annoying, woman. Leave me alone." She clenched her fists tightly, furious tears swelling up in her eyes. God_, if he could just get his _head_out of his _ass_ for once!_ Sakura thought angrily, stomping her foot. _Arrogant asshole!_

…**:oOo:…**

"Stay out of my way tonight, Sakura," he told her, tying up his boots and shooting her a death glare. She rolled her jade eyes and made a face at him when his back was turned, causing Ino to giggle hysterically.

"Good luck out there you guys," she told the six of them, smiling slightly.

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, you guys say that while you're nice and safe back here in the Ops Center." Shikamaru shot her a disparaging look and turned back to the monitors. He typed out a few things and nodded at the screen.

"All right, there's eight of them tonight, so be careful," he told them, pressing a button on his remote control. Two panels opened wide on the floor and a table rose up covered with six different bags with names labeled on the front. "Also, Ino has a shot to give each of you before you go out tonight."

Naruto looked rather wary. "A shot? For what?"

Ino smiled at him. "Vaccination Naruto. This shot gives an hour's worth of protection against vampire venom. You can get bitten a million times over and it still won't affect you. Thank Sakura, she created it." The pink haired woman smiled coyly, and scratched the back of her head to show her diffidence. Sasuke rolled his eyes as the rest of the group congratulated her ecstatically.

"Just give it to me," he growled to Ino, who looked slightly taken aback. She complied though, and he was soon out on his way after picking up the bag marked "Uchiha." The bags had not been changed in years, always bearing the family name of the child who represented the clans. His parents, before the elimination of his clan, but he didn't enjoy talking about that, had represented the Uchiha name. They expected his elder brother Itachi to follow in their footsteps, but he mysteriously disappeared after the massacre so Sasuke continued on as a Seeker to honor his parents.

He heard her voice say, "Sasuke, wait! The rest of the group hasn't gotten the vaccine yet!" He rounded on the cherry haired girl and gave her the Evil Death Glare™ that he had become so famous for giving. She merely laughed at him, much to his chagrin, and shook her head. "Is that supposed to be intimidating Sasuke?"

"You know what Sakura?" he told her angrily.

She replied, crossing her arms, "No, why don't you fill me in?"

"You're fucking annoying. Shut up." She was about to retort irately, but the rest of the group came up behind them, breaking up the fight with their presence.

"Everyone ready?" Neji asked, as the group pulled their weapons out of the bags, dipping the bullets and other projectiles in the Holy Water before strapping them to their bodies. Tenten by far had the most extensive series of hooks and holsters than anyone, and nobody could understand how she was able to understand it all. She had knives and ancient, small shuriken, as well as a small handgun and innumerous other projectiles no one but Neji, her sparring partner, had seen all of. Speaking of which, said Hyuuga had two guns strapped to his thighs, as well as a katana on a belt on his back. He was second-to-none in unarmed combat, even trumping Sasuke's ass, much to the Uchiha's displeasure.

Sakura and Hinata carried guns as well as metal oriental fans to block from bullets that some of the guns a few vampires tended to carry around. Sasuke had his swords, four in all, on his back and his amazing hand-to-hand combat skills. He also had a strange precognition, somehow able to detect the move the vampire was about to perform before the creature was able to pull it off. Naruto was a special case, occasionally showing signs of vampiric tendencies whenever he felt strong, negative emotions. He didn't talk about it, only Kakashi-san knowing anything about this strange power he held.

"As six teenagers preparing to take down bloodthirsty vampires will ever be," Tenten told him with a grin, spinning a set of nun-chucks in her hands and slipping them back into the holder on her belt. They exited through the back door of the ANBU building, slinking out like bats into the shadows.

"Okay," Shikamaru told them over their headsets, scrolling down on his monitor screen. "You guys are taking out a coven I discovered a few weeks back two streets down from the Hyuuga district."

Neji asked, slightly irritated, "Wait! You knew there was a coven near my family and you didn't **tell** me!"

The sound erupted as slightly static when the brunet sighed. "I had to make sure, Neji, before I sent you all out there." He nodded slightly in agreement, and glanced to his partner. Tenten was swiftly front flipping across a rooftop, and then jumped down to meet him.

The Hyuuga pressed a button on his headset so she alone could hear him. "You okay, Tenten?"

"Fine as pie!" she replied, shooting him a grin.

He nodded and told her, just before switching back to the main line, "Be careful okay?" She blushed, slightly surprised.

The Hyuuga tuned in just in time to hear Shikamaru yell desperately, "—more than I thought are coming up behind you!" Neji and Tenten turned to see their amber eyes flickering maliciously in the shadows and ran, catching up to the rest of the sprinting team.

Feeling daring, Tenten turned and pull two machetes from the sides of her boots. Leaping into the air she came down on two of them heavily, the blades impaling their skin and reducing them to nothing. She glanced up in time to get decked in the face by a filthy shoe. She was flung bodily into a wall, but she leapt back up, wiping the blood from her lip. "Asshole," she cursed, flinging a knife from her side accurately into her throat. The female vampire blew away in the wind and Tenten grinned.

Sakura sped along the roof of a building, plugging another couple parasites in the back. She turned to see Sasuke leap into the air to avoid one of their attacks, falling down gracefully, embedding his katana into the creature's skull. He aimed for another one, silently coming up behind it, but the pink haired Seeker shot at it first, getting a direct hit on its back. He glared up at her and yelled, "I told you to stay out of my way!"

"Do you think it matters who gets how many?" she retorted, jumping down to him and pressing a finger to his chest. "As far as I can see no one's counting Sasuke! No one **cares**, obviously!"

"Hey, love birds!" Ino's voice called over the speakers, an annoyed Shikamaru mumbling something about troublesome women in the background. She obviously had knocked him aside and grabbed his headset. "Focus!"

"**WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS**!" they roared in unison, both murderously prepared to throw **their** headsets to the ground and stomp on them.

Abruptly, freezing the angry duo in their tracks, Hinata's small voice cried out frantically, "Help! Please!" The two indignant hunters turned to the younger Hyuu

ga, who was being overpowered by another vampire.

"I'll get her," they told each other. Then they grew irritated with the other. "No **I **will!"

"Stay back Sakura," he ordered firmly, turning towards Hinata. The emerald eyed woman grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. She shook her head resolutely.

She told the Uchiha, "I'll go. I'm getting sick of your egotistical ass telling me what to do!" Suddenly there was a scream, and both turned to see Hinata's neck being pierced by the vampire who fought with her.

"**HINATA!**" a furious voice roared. Glancing up, Sasuke and Sakura saw Naruto leap down from a balcony to her, his skin unnaturally pale and his normally blue eyes deep amber. He swiped at the vampire, the little contact by his fist sending the creature through a wall where Tenten followed, going to make sure he was properly disposed of. The blue haired Hyuuga collapsed into Naruto's arms where she trembled, two slit like holes in her neck. Tears poured down her cheeks from her alabaster eyes and she clutched at Naruto's black jacket. "Don't worry Hinata-chan. You'll be fine, I promise. You took Sakura-chan's vaccine remember?" He hugged her to his chest protectively, trying to quell her falling tears.

Shikamaru's voice called, "Sasuke, Sakura, you two follow Tenten. She's going to need help. Three more are on her trail!"

"Roger," they replied, leaping into the hole in the side of the building. The onyx eyed individual shot the jade one a filthy look. "If you had just let me go Hinata would still be all right." She rolled her eyes, not wanting to dignify his accusations with a response. On the radar adorning their arms, the green blip that was Tenten was no more than a few yards away. The two silently turned a corner to see her surrounded.

Sakura immediately jumped in to help, firing a projectile into the back of one of the vampires. Another instantly leapt for her, causing her to slip a knife from her sleeve and make a slash for him. He dodged it, and grabbed the woman by the throat, slamming her into the side of a steel dumpster. She groaned in pain and dropped her knife, fruitlessly grabbing at the leech's hands to try and pull them away. "I'm stronger than you little girl," he sneered, tightening his grip. He girl felt she could hardly breathe anymore, her vision going black as the vampire toyed with her.

"Damn… it…" she cursed, failing to pry his hand away. Suddenly he was gone, just dust in the wind, and she fell to her hands and knees, choking violently, her hand on her tender throat. She glanced up to see Sasuke standing there, his sword unsheathed, his eyes filled momentarily with worry. She examined him up and down, a slight blush coating her cheeks. _He's… kind of… cool._

"You're annoying," he told her, putting it back into one of the many scabbards on his back. "I hate having to rescue people like you." All complimentary thoughts flew down the drain, and her eyes narrowed furiously.

"People like me?" she shot back, glaring at him from the ground

He narrowed his eyes. "Yes, people like you, who shouldn't even be on this force because they lack strength enough to protect themselves. Now get up." Glaring, she complied, leaping up and punching his powerfully in the cheek. He stumbled backwards in shock, his hand on the spot.

"You arrogant asshole," she told him, liking the new nickname she picked out for him.

Halting their conversation, Tenten's panic-stricken voice reached their ears, "I know how enjoyable your quarrel must be, guys, I have them with Neji all the time! But could you take some time out of your busy schedule to **help me!**"

They suddenly remembered the reason for being there and gasped, "Tenten!" as the woman fell prey under two other vampires. The two leapt into action, annihilating them before they were able to do anymore damage to the bun wearing girl.

"Tenten?" came Neji's voice over the speaker. "Do you copy? Tenten!" His voice sounded hysterical by the end of it, and the conflicting partners glanced at each other guiltily. "Sakura, Sasuke! Please, is she all right?" The Haruno knelt down by her and saw that the woman had been hit by a couple bullets in her shoulder, and a large cut running down her forearm. Two bite marks rested on either side of her neck, and she looked really pale. Her eyes were closed unconsciously, and her breathing was shallow.

She gulped and said shakily into the microphone strapped to her throat, "She's wounded Neji." A strangled sound erupted from the man's throat and he pounded a huge dent into the side of a large truck sitting nearby.

"**GOD DAMN IT!**" His piercing scream disrupted a large number of crows resting nearby, causing them to fly off into the night.

…**:oOo:…**

Sakura managed to extract the bullets from Tenten without any additional damage to the woman's shoulder, and she administered the stitches without any problems. As for Hinata, she had minor scratches from a knife, and the medical expert insisted she stay in bed. "They'll be fine Neji, Naruto. No need to worry."

The two glared up at her, such hostile expressions she didn't expect from them to be directed at her. She was slightly frightened, and took a step back in apprehension. "Easy for you to say," Neji told her coldly, his hand balled into a fist on his knee as he sat next to the brunette's hospital bed. "You and Sasuke act like little children. If you could, perhaps, stop bickering like… like…"

"An old married couple!" Naruto finished in a bellow. "Maybe Hinata and Tenten wouldn't have gotten hurt!"

Neji shook his head. "You tell me not to worry, yet both my cousin and my best friend are injured! And it could've been much worse due to your inane quarreling!" Sakura felt tears spring in her eyes. "Maybe next time if both of you could leave your egos at home it would be quite helpful!" A painful realization dawned on her. _They're right…_ The wells in her light colored orbs dripped and she ran out of the room, the water flying behind her at the speed she was running at. The distressed girl flew passed Sasuke, who had the dignity to look slightly concerned for her. She narrowly avoided Ino and Shikamaru on her way passed the tech lab.

"Sakura?" her best friend called, trying to stop her.

She called back to the blonde, "Tell Hinata and Tenten, and Neji and Naruto for that matter, that I'm terribly sorry!"

Sasuke entered the medical room with confusion and saw Neji regard him with the Hyuuga Foul Stare # 8™. "If you and Sakura do not learn to work together," he told the Uchiha frostily, standing up with his face in the startled boy's, "I swear I will do everything in my power to **get rid of you**!" Sasuke blinked in shock, and stared at the pale eyed boy as he turned back to the two medical wards worriedly.

"Next time Sasuke-teme," Naruto growled, "it might be worse." The black haired junior glared at the floor, unable to find anything to vent his frustration on. A nice, relaxing round in the holographic training zone might work though…

…**:oOo:…**

Sasuke got home that night around four in the morning, spending five hours training in the Holo-Zone Shikamaru and Kakashi-san invented. But the young man still found himself unable to fall asleep, the guilt of Tenten and Hinata's injuries still fresh on his mind. Naruto and Neji were correct, as much as he hated to admit it. Even though he hated the pink haired woman, he knew that if they didn't learn to cooperate with each other it would jeopardize all future missions and the lives of their teammates. He needed to let go of his pride and accept that fact that hid indeed have a partner now, and she was as much as a capable Seeker as he was.

Tomorrow, he promised that to the full extent of his abilities, he would cease to be an—he couldn't **believe **he was saying this—an arrogant asshole.


	4. Truce

Chapter 3: Truce

He entered his first period class expectantly, glancing around the room for the always distinguishable pink hair of Haruno Sakura. For some reason, the woman wasn't in school yet. As he sat down at his desk, he patiently waited for her to arrive so he could apologize to her. He really didn't want to, but, like he decided last night, he needed to let go of his pride and work together with the sharpshooter. The bell rang, with Naruto running in at the last minute to avoid being marked tardy, and the Uchiha noted with slight concern that Sakura hadn't even come to class. _Is she sick?_ He found himself thinking, surprisingly worried about her. The blond slumped down in the seat next to the Uchiha looking terrible.

Sasuke sighed, feeling guilt sweep over him as he sank down in his seat, not even bothering to listen to Kurenai-sensei. He had a feeling that it was his fault the normally chipper girl wasn't in school, the usually hyperactive blond beside him was depressed, and his injured teammates in the hospital weren't out yet. It seemed he had a knack for making people suffer without even trying. Sighing again, he turned to Naruto worriedly and asked, "How are Hinata and Tenten doing?"

The blond glanced tiredly at Sasuke and rubbed at his azure eyes. "Hinata-chan's made a full recovery, albeit being slightly traumatized, and she'll be in school tomorrow. But Tenten won't be back 'til next week at the very least." He shot a look around the room with a knit brow. "Oi, where's Sakura-chan?"

Suddenly Sasuke was even more anxious than before. "You don't know either?" He shook his head back no, then tilted it in confusion. "Weird. I haven't seen her since she ran out of Tenten and Hinata's hospital room…"

Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, during lunch let's go see Kakashi. He might know."

"Naruto, Sasuke," Kurenai called, snapping them out of their one-on-one conversation. "Pay attention. This is going to be on your quiz." They nodded and began to studiously take notes, the Uchiha still concerned for his partner.

…**:oOo:…**

"Gomen nasai," Kakashi told them, his nose buried in his favorite book of all time, _Icha Icha Paradise_. "But Sakura quit the ANBU yesterday."

Sasuke looked heatedly appalled. "What the fuck for!" he demanded, slamming his hands powerfully on the silver haired man's desk. He closed the book with a sigh and cocked an eyebrow at Sasuke.

He told him thoughtfully, "I distinctly remember her saying something like, '…can't stand that arrogant asshole!' And something along the lines of, '… black-haired, egotistical jerk off!' Was she referring to you?" Naruto would have snickered had the situation been a tad less serious. But the Uchiha had such a furious look on his face that he decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being.

"That doesn't explain why she wasn't in school though…" he mumbled distractedly, turning on heel and walking out the door. The blond decided not to follow, seeing how his next class was Chemistry and he wasn't exactly in a good position grade-wise to be skipping. The Uchiha slid into the side of his sleek, red convertible and started the engine. Pulling out of the disguised ANBU headquarters, he turned down the next road over heading for the Haruno residence. All of the Seekers needed to know each others' addresses in case of emergency, so he knew exactly where she lived.

Pulling up into the steep driveway, Sasuke stepped out of his car and glanced around. The house was nice, although **enormous**, but very pretty nonetheless. He walked up the steps to the glass front door, and knocked on his lightly. It took a few minutes, but an older pink haired woman opened it with a smile. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Um, my name's Sasuke." It sounded like a question. He wasn't sure if she already knew who he was. "Can I see… Sakura please?"

Her mother sighed. "She's rather upset right now, why don't you stop by later?"

He put his hand on the door before she could shut it on him. "It's important ANBU business, Haruno-san; may I please talk to her?" The jade eyed woman blinked in surprised, and then nodded.

"Come in Sasuke. Her room's up the stairs on the left, next to the study." He thanked her and ran up the stairs two at a time. Even without directions, he noted sweat dropping; he would've found it with no trouble. Her door was bright pink, with a large white sign saying in black calligraphy, "Sakura's Room". Rolling his eyes he tapped on the door loudly.

Sakura wiped her eye with a tissue and tossed it into a small trashcan already full with the white paper. "What a jerk," she sulked, scratching his face out if the team photograph with a black Sharpie. Various other pictures of the Uchiha sat on her bed as well as a rainbow of variously colored Sharpies. His face had random doodle all over it, like glasses and pimples, funky moustaches and beards, sideburns, and other silly designs she felt like putting on his admittedly handsome face.

She heard someone thump loudly up the staircase, and assuming it was her little brother she ignored it. Surprisingly, they knocked on her door and coking an eyebrow called, "Come in."

Sasuke opened the door and peeked around the wood. The cherry haired girl stared at him in shock, his black hair contrasting with her pink colored door and walls. "Sakura?" Something flew at his face and knocked into his forehead, causing him to stumble backwards. Regaining his footing he yelled, "What the hell was that for!" Soon various other random objects began bombarding him.

"Get outta my house asshole!" she yelled to him, sending a tray of sewing supplies flying. He squeaked as he ducked below the painful needles and straight pins only to have a large boot bean him in the chest.

He ordered angrily, "Stop it! I'm here to make a truce!" A piece of cloth dangled from his head as Sakura threw the contents of her top drawer at him. She stopped hurling hazardous objects at him, and watched his face, trying to find a catch in his proposal. Like he just said that to make her stop chucking dangerous items at his person.

Sakura growled, "Like what Uchiha?"

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his obsidian locks, wishing he didn't have to do this. "Okay, here's the deal. I don't like you, I'll admit it." She gave him an evil glare and he held his hands up to try and quell her anger for the moment. "And, for the sake of our teammates, I'll also admit that I was being an asshole. Sorry for that."

She watched him suspiciously, but he seemed like he was being honest, so she dropped the scissors she planned on throwing at him next. "Are you serious, Uchiha?" He nodded and crossed his arms across his chest, waiting for her reaction. The cherry headed medic stood up, still looking skeptical, and stuck her face right in front of his. "So, you apologize for being an arrogant asshole?" He nodded. "And for calling me an egotistical upstart?" He nodded again, tempted to contradict her on the wording, but decided it would detrimental to his health so he kept his mouth shut. "And you'll consider me an equal worthy of being on the ANBU squad?" Sighing softly he nodded one final time.

"Yes, Sakura, I will."

After a moment of contemplating she shrugged and turned back to her photos. "Too bad, I already quit." He groaned and walked over to her bed and knelt on the ground, feeling extremely foolish, and pressed his hands together in pleading.

"Please Sakura, I really need you back. We all do. You're a great Seeker, and I was stupid to say otherwise." Much to his own disbelief, he was completely serious, and watched her for a reaction. He meant every bit of it, and hoped she realized it.

Sakura's emerald green eyes scanned his black ones and felt a light blush coming to her cheeks. He seemed honest, and he seemed to be telling the truth when he said that they wanted her back. Resting her gaze on the ground, just to avoid looking at him, she asked, "Truly?" He nodded firmly, and she smiled at him, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Thank you, Sasuke." He felt his breath leave him for a moment as his eyes met hers, but it soon passed and she moved away. "Oh," she started, pointing to the clothed dangling from the top of his head. "Please take that off before you leave. I don't want my mother getting the wrong impression."

Confused, he pulled it off and when he got a good look at it dropped the item as if he was burned. "Oh, sorry," he mumbled, stepping back from the blue bra and to the door. "But, you threw it at me remember." She shrugged and tossed it back into her dresser with a smile. Sasuke opened her door and turned back to look at her, an attractive smirk on his face. "See you tonight?"

"Wouldn't miss it." He nodded and waved, and she shot him a pretty smile as he strode down the stairs and out the door. "Sayonara, Sasuke." He glanced back at her as he mother shut the door, and she sighed happily; glad to be out of that quarrel. In fact, she felt a lot lighter inside, and the thought of going to see him that night made her feel capricious instead of sick. Turning back to her mattress, she wished she hadn't crossed him out of all of the pictures, so she could put them in frames. Oh well, she'd get copies from Ino or Shikamaru.

Sasuke sighed, leaning against the side of her house, and watching the grass billow in the wind. He was quite relieved that they had been able to clear that up. Fighting with people, besides that dobe, was not a thing he enjoyed doing on a regular basis. It just took too much energy out of him that he could be using for fighting vampires. With a slight smile on his face he climbed back into his car and drove off, deciding to just go back to the base instead of to school or home, where he knew nobody would be waiting.

"Who was that?" a voice asked at her door. Sakura glanced back and saw her little brother Shiro watching her with large green eyes. "Oooo, does Sakura have a **boyfriend**?"

She glared at him angrily and shouted, "Shiro get **out of my room!**" She jumped out and grabbed him bodily by the shoulders, and threw him out the door. As he landed on his stomach she told him sternly, "He's not my boyfriend, just my ANBU partner! Now go screw off!" She slammed the door, but had an odd smile on her face.

…**:oOo:…**

Hinata exited from the girls' locker room jadedly, a huge headache throbbing in her head. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, having to stay up and practice with her father all night. And by the time she did get to sleep, Naruto had woken her up to take her here to fight a few inhumans. So you really couldn't blame her for thinking she was delusional when she saw Sakura chatting animatedly with Sasuke. Neither of them looking in the least bit angry or like they wanted to pick a fight. Naturally, Ino and Shikamaru were standing around as well, watching in confusion. "This is too weird," Ino commented, tossing her long, white-blonde hair over her shoulder and glancing over to Hinata. "I mean, they're not at each other's throats anymore, and it's freaking me out."

Shikamaru replied, giving her a sideways peek, "Well, it's a lot less troublesome when they **don't** fight. Be appreciative."


	5. Wind Country ANBU

**A/N**: Thanks to everyone for reviewing this, I love you all! (Fangirl squee)

Chapter 4: Wind Country ANBU

Naruto was beat. They had been up until four in the morning that time seven days ago, considering they didn't have school to worry about. It was Saturday again, and he didn't feel like going home, so he just crashed at the base for the night, sleeping on the leather couch in the entry room. A loud pounding sound erupted in his ears, and he wasn't sure if he was still dreaming or if it were real.

It abruptly stopped and he opened his eyes a crack, looking around the room warily. Suddenly the knocking started up again, causing the blond to go toppling off the couch onto the hardwood floor. "I'm coming," he hollered, rubbing his eyes in annoyance. He stumbled over to the wooden door, wondering who on earth that could be. Upon opening it, he saw one of the most stunning girls he's ever seen in his entire life.

She had short maroon hair and silvery eyes, and she wore a leather vest and low cut leather pants. Combat boots adorned her feet, and a cold look in her gray orbs sent a chill down his spine. "Is this the HQ of the Fire Country ANBU?" He nodded stupidly, still in awe of her looks. Sighing, she pulled out a small knife and held it to his forehead. "I don't like being gawked at. If you don't cut it out, I'll be forced to insert this into your brain."

"Yes ma'am!" he replied, backing up and averting his eyes from her. She glanced around the entrance area, examining every nook and cranny. Nodding she turned back outside and bowed.

She told someone, "The building is secure."

"Arigatou Masao," an icy voice answered. A young man came into view, and she pushed the blond aside to allow him entry. He had crimson colored hair, and his arctic sea green eyes were delineated in thick black lines. Above his left eye was a scar shaped into the Japanese character for love, and the boy had a mysterious air about him. When their eyes met, Naruto felt an even sharper shock fly down his spine, and he gulped in apprehension.

Gathering up his strength, he said, "I'm not allowed to let strangers with no ID into the building." Masao, the claret haired girl's name was, flicked open a booklet with a passport for herself and the redhead, and he nodded. Then he blinked in revelation. "Wait, you're the Seekers from Wind Country right? You guys are Sabaku no Gaara and Ai Masao, the two most famous ANBU I've ever heard of!"

He glanced back at the maroon haired girl, and commented, "It seems our reputation proceeds us, Masao."

"That is does, Gaara-sama." She looked the blond up and down and nodded. "And you're Uzumaki Naruto, a rather illustrious one yourself." She stuck her hand out and he shook it, looking pleased that he was a famous Seeker after all. "May we please speak with Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki-san?" He nodded and waved to them to follow behind and they did, Masao closing the front door before proceeding after the vermillion haired boy. Naruto could practically feel the cold vibes being emanated from the two, and he suppressed another shiver. _Damn, these are some scary people._

"Kakashi-san! Our guests are here!" The silver haired man glanced up from the book he was reading to watch the blond, and then noted who exactly the guests were. His good eye widened slightly as he put his book away, and then he walked over to the two respectfully.

"Masao, Gaara, thank you for coming," he said smiling at the two. They returned no such warm gesture, but nodded and watched him, waiting the man to continue. Kakashi blinked and sighed slightly. "Welcome to the Fire Country ANBU Headquarters, please make yourselves at home." He turned his good eye to watch the uncertain blond, and smiled at him under his mask. "Naruto, please show Masao-kun and Gaara-kun to their rooms." He nodded and without another word the two followed him out, trailing after him silently to their rooms.

The blue eyed individual, feeling extremely awkward, tried to start a conversation by saying, "So, what kind of things… do you guys do?" Masao shot him a strange look and then glanced to Gaara who nodded. She returned the gesticulation, and Naruto frowned, confused by their silent conversation.

She started, "You see, Gaara-sama and I are concerned with teamwork, Naruto-san, so most of our techniques are comprised of both of our talents together. Occasionally Gaara-sama goes off on his own tangent with his special skills, and I become his backup." The blond nodded as she glanced out the window, her arms moving from a crossed position to dangle at her sides. The green eyed man glanced at his partner and shook his head in agreement. She blinked and looked at Naruto, asking, "Naruto-san, how old are you?"

"Sixteen, seventeen in October. Why?" She just shrugged and faced forward again without another word. He hesitated a moment before asking, "What about you two?"

"We both turned seventeen in January," Gaara replied when she saw Masao had her mind on other things. "Myself on the nineteenth and Masao on the twenty-first." He nodded and stopped before two empty rooms, reserved for guests. He opened the door on the right and showed Masao in.

He told her, "This is your room, and Gaara will sleep next door. Do you mind sharing a bathroom?" They both motioned the negative and entered their respective rooms, closing the doors behind them on Naruto. He breathed deeply, realizing just how scared he had been of the two famous Seekers, and ran a hand through his spiky blond hair. _If they're this scary here, I wonder what they'll be like fighting!_

…**:oOo:…**

"No way, are you serious?" Ino asked Tenten, her mouth agape. The brunette nodded gravely, turning back to the scoreboard for the Holo-Zone. She pointed to her name for target practice, which had been bumped to second place by someone named Ai Masao. "So, not only did she beat your score, but she said it was **too easy**?" She nodded again and shook her head, freaked out by the ruthless attacks that woman could dish out.

"And," Sasuke added, pointing to Neji's name on the other board. "Gaara seems to have taken out more enemies in the least amount of time, making me third and Neji second." The eight of them remained silent, watching the scoreboard in awe. These guys… they were merciless it seemed. In the face of their prey they showed no remorse, no emotion, only the desire to take them down and make sure they didn't come back up.

Shikamaru said, holding two manila folders and fingering through them, "In their files, it says that they have more experience in this field then anyone from Suna, and that Gaara has been a Seeker since he was… since he was six." Sakura watched the intelligent brunet like he was crazy, her jade eyes wide in shock. They have… children fighting out there? Killing coldheartedly with no regrets?

She whispered, "How cruel…" Neji nodded in agreement, looking at the electronic numbers as if they were lying to him. No one had beaten his score, ever. A knock sounded and they all jumped, Shikamaru hiding the files in with their own. Naruto opened the door and the subjects of their conversation stood there, looking perfect despite their long sessions in the Zone. "Konnichiwa, Masao, Gaara."

They nodded at her and entered, Kakashi not far behind them. When he entered the Konoha ANBU became silent, and the Suna ANBU saw that they had a deep respect for the pragmatic man. He glanced around at them all, watching them closely before saying, "As you can see, both Masao and Gaara have exceeded normal expectations, and will be joining us tonight on our trip."

"Kakashi-san," Hinata asked quietly, watching him with thoughtful eyes. "Where are we going tonight?" He smiled at her before turning back to the group and crossing his arms.

He told them, "Ino heard a rumor of a coven near the riverside. They're not that large, only about ten or twenty of them, so it should be an easy day." They all nodded, thankful for the easy job that they had to do. "We leave in three hours, so you can either stay here or go home."

"I'm staying, dattebayo," Naruto said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. Hinata looked over at him and nodded, twiddling her pointer fingers together. Sakura glanced at Ino who said the same, and agreed.

Neji glanced at Tenten and asked, "Wanna stay? I think we should get some training done." She nodded in agreement and smiled brightly at him. She had gotten out of the hospital early, because she had shown such a speedy recovery. Although Sakura warned her to take it easy, she had gotten back to training later that same day.

"Why don't you stay too Sasuke, okay?" Sakura suggested to the Uchiha, who glanced at her for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. Naruto stretched and then perked up, an idea coming to mind. He raced out the door to every one of his friends' obvious surprise, who continued to watch the door in shock. "What was up with that?"

Ino laughed heartily. "That's Naruto for you! Quick to scamper away without a single explanation!" Though the purpose for his departure soon became evident when he ran back in, snacks loaded in his arms. The blonde watched him with an incredulous expression, as if he had gotten hit one too many times in the head by Hinata's small fan. "What are all those for Naruto?"

"Party!" he replied with a cheer, causing everyone to sweatdrop. Hinata, who had been the only one who didn't, smiled and walked over to him, shyly taking a few of the things from his arms and setting them out. "See? Hinata-chan agrees!"

She glanced around with a blush and said, "…p-party!" Neji blinked and smiled slightly, glancing at his cousin knowingly. Gaara and Masao glanced at each other as everyone began to congregate together, feeling out of place.

The maroon haired girl watched her partner for a moment before commenting as she turned back to watch them, "It seems they have a little less discipline than we're used to, ne, Gaara-sama?" He stayed silent for a moment before taking a sip from his water bottle, and then turning to her gave her an impassive look.

"Well, Masao, they're all friends here. That's the problem." She nodded and continued to examine their group as if watching a movie. She felt like on a totally different planet from the cheerful faction before them, and shot a sideways look at the redhead before letting out a silent sigh. _Gaara-sama…_ A sad expression covered her normally stoic features, missed by her partner but not by the blue haired Hyuuga. Hinata watched Masao with confusion, trying to comprehend what could possibly make her as sad as she looked.

Gathering up her courage, she stepped over to the Wind Country Seeker and inquired, "W-would you like t-to… talk?" She blinked her silver orbs in obvious astonishment, and then nodded, walking over with her to a secluded part of the room. Hinata bit down on a Twinkie, feeling slightly awkward around the girl. "I-is there… something w-wrong?"

Masao grunted softly in surprise and watched her face closely, searching for a reason for her sudden interest. "Well, your acquaintances and you… are incredibly convivial, ne?" She blinked and nodded, watching Naruto do an impression of Sasuke and the onyx haired man punch him in the back of the head. Laughing faintly, she turned to the coldhearted woman and gave her a warm smile.

"We're all f-friends here, Masao-san," she told her truthfully, extending her hand to motion to the seven other Seekers and Kakashi, who had his orange covered book in his hand. "We all kn-know and tr-trust each other with our l-lives. Isn't that how you a-and Gaara-san a-are?" Glancing at the ground, she wracked her brain for something that would give a clue to a thing close to friendship between herself and the heartless man she worked with. Sighing, she shot the pearl eyed girl an impassive look.

She told her, "No, nothing like that. We trust each other as partners and Seekers, but that's the extent of our relationship, Hinata-kun…" She sighed inwardly, and bit the inside of her lip.

"But you wish it were more." Masao's orbs widened and she snapped her head to the side to catch Hinata's eyes. She was smiling brightly, and she blinked at the notion she mentioned. She gave Gaara a sideways glance and watched him for a moment as Naruto offered him a bag of Doritos© (**A/N**: I do not own them!).

Turning back to Hinata she asked, indifferently, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"It just… s-seems th-that way…" she mumbled, pressing her fingers together with embarrassment. She shrugged and turned back to watching her partner try the ranch chips for the first time. His expression of uncertainty before taking the first bite, the contemplating, and then the initial, split-second flash of approval as he continued to munch on the delectable treats. It all seemed surreal to her, continuously at her fingertips but absolutely outside her reach.

"Well," she said uncertainly, trying to appear nonchalant, "I'm sorry but it's not true. Gaara-sama's nothing more than my partner and leader. There's nothing… more." Ai Masao turned around and walked away from her, and soon exited the room altogether to get some fresh air. Not going unnoticed by her partner, the redhead followed her out to the parking lot, where she stood on the edge of a bridge watching the light posts reflect marvelously in the pond water. She stared off into the grayish water, watching with correspondingly tinted orbs. She felt his arm brush her elbow that rested on the stone railing of the archaic overpass.

He questioned hesitantly, "Is everything… all right?" She glanced at him, unsuspecting of his concern, of his presence altogether, and nodded.

"Stuffy in there," she replied, letting the cool November air wash over her body. She suppressed a shudder, realizing she had been stupid not to grab her windbreaker on the way out, and sighed. "What about you, Gaara-sama?"

"Same," he replied. _And to see if you were okay…_ he added dryly, watching the artificial lighting reflect in her uncommonly colored eyes. Noting her slight shiver, he shrugged out of his blue coat and draped it over her shoulders, much to her obvious surprise. "You'll catch a cold this way, Masao. What use would you be then?"

"Thank you." They were silent as the house lights around them shut off, and the rare passerby became nonexistent. The entire setting seemed dreamlike, hearing the cheering and laughing coming from the Seekers inside, watching the lights sparkle, and just standing together in silence. "Gaara-sama…" she started, giving him an uncertain glance. He met her eyes quizzically and she smiled slightly. "I was wondering… would you like to go with me tomorrow… to go get coffee?"

Gaara furrowed his brow in great confusion, the crease in his skin the only visible sign of his being so, due to obvious lack of eyebrows. "What?"

She flushed red and turned away making him even more perplexed. _Since when did she act like this?_ "Never mind, forget I ever said anything…"

After a moment of contemplation he let a minute smile grace his lips. "I'd like that." Her eyes opened comically in mystification, and she watched him for a moment before smiling.

She replied, patting his arm, "Great."


	6. Too Much Pressure

**A/N**: Ah, the joys of writing. This has so many plot holes in it so far it looks like swiss cheese. Which I hate. So to get rid of the swiss cheese and make it cheddar again I shall have to work harder! GO CHEDDAR CHEESE! Also, if you have any questions about the timeline ask me, and I will lay it out for you, and if you want a particular character I shall put them in! Yosh!

Chapter 5: Too Much Pressure

It had been an easy day, as Kakashi had predicted, and they had all gotten home relatively early. Shikamaru, as always, stayed behind to work with Ino as his chaperone. When Tenten got to school the next day, she noticed that everyone seemed to be in a good mood when she walked into the cafeteria. The students had to wait there until ten minutes before the first bell, and then they were allowed to go to their lockers. "Neji-kun, what's up with everyone?" she asked the man, sitting on his table and watching the others chat affably.

"Don't ask me. My guess would be because last night went so well," he replied, turning a page in the book his was reading through. She nodded and glanced at the clock, noticing that there was still twenty minutes until the warning bell rang. The brunette watched his white eyes flicker back and forth between lines, and after a minute of this he noticed. "Tenten, is there something you wanted?"

"Ah, no," she replied, scratching the back of her head.

"Hey Tenten!" The weapons mistress glanced back to see her third period classmate Kiba run over to her, glad for the excuse of getting out of the awkward situation. He wore his winter coat, which was gray and had a furry brown hood. "I was wondering if you could help me with this Trigonometry crap. I don't get a bit of it." She nodded and slid off the desk, waving goodbye to an observing Neji.

She told him with a wink, "See ya, Neji-kun, and be good while I'm gone." He had to restrain himself from the natural reaction of rolling his eyes, and returned to his book. It was going to be one of those days. Meanwhile, Naruto begged Sakura to help him finish his homework before Kurenai's first period class, Shikamaru slept on his backpack with Ino stroking his hair, and Sasuke tried to avoid his fan group, with little success.

There was a quiet hush over the crowd as two people entered the room. One had red hair and the other had maroon, and they glanced around until they had spotted the resident vampire hunters. "Hey, Sakura-chan," Naruto asked, pointing at Masao and Gaara as they walked over. "Why're they here?"

"Didn't you hear Naruto?" Sakura told him, shaking her head in incredulous. "They transferred to our school so they didn't seem suspicious." Hinata joined them soon after, looking rather ruffled but refused to talk about it. The Wind Country ANBU sat down next to Ino, glancing around at the other students with impassive expressions.

Masao questioned, glancing at the blonde, "So, this is what a public school is like, hm?" Ino nodded and shook the brunet awake, seeing that they had to go to their lockers now.

"Five minutes more, please Mommy," he mumbled burying his face back into the cloth of his bag. Chuckling she pulled the bag up, causing him to clunk his forehead on the lunch table and get startled awake. "Mendo kusai…" he groaned, rubbing at the sore spot on his head. "Warn me next time, Ino you annoying woman!" Gaara followed Sakura and Masao followed Neji, noting that their lockers were in the same general area as the two.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura entered into Kurenai's classroom a few minutes later, and she went around and collected everyone's homework. "You know, Naruto," Sakura scolded in a whisper, as their teacher began to lecture them on Newton's theories, "Homework is meant to be down at home, which is why it's labeled as such."

"Well, if I get stuck on something, I don't have anyone there to help me!" he replied, crossing his arms angrily. "Why do you think I wait until I get to school to ask you!" She blinked and frowned as Naruto turned to face forward. _That's… right… Naruto's all alone…Now don't you feel bad? _She sighed and pressed her hands into her lap, watching but not really listening to the lecture. Something had been bothering her for quite awhile and not just Naruto's strange situation either.

It was Sasuke. He had been acting so strange lately, completely obsessed with something. Pouring all of his time and energy into **something**. She didn't know what it was, but she new it had to do with an individual named Uchiha Itachi. Though it wasn't anywhere near her business, she decided to question the aloof man about his mania.

After school before he had the chance to get into his car, Sakura caught up with him and gave him a weak smile. He cocked an onyx eyebrow at her as she bit her lip uncertainly, and then sighed. "If you have something to say, spit it out." She opened her mouth and then closed it, her previous determination wavering at the thought of invading his privacy. "Okay, get in, I'll drive you home and we can talk on the way." Blinking she obeyed, sliding into the passenger seat of his convertible, the hood was up obviously, due to inclement weather, and buckled her seatbelt. She normally walked home from the school, liking the exercise, so this was a bit out of the ordinary. He pulled out of the student parking lot and onto the street, turning in the direction to her house. "So what did you want?" he asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well," she started, her hands in her lap and following the seams of her backpack with her emerald eyes to avoid looking at him. "You've been obsessing over something lately, and I've noticed it affecting your schoolwork, and yourself altogether. I mean, you never talk to anyone anymore, not that you did much of that in the first place…" She snapped out of her sarcastic mode and back into serious mode. "And, frankly, it's scaring me… Is something wrong, Sasuke?"

He pulled his car over in front of her house and cut the engine, causing the lights to go out and them to sit in shadows for a moment. "I…" he began hesitantly, glancing at her through the dark veil of bangs that hung in his face. "I have vowed to kill someone, Sakura…" She blinked, her heart racing in her chest, and tilted her head to show her confusion. "He… made me cry…" Sasuke clenched his fist on his knee until the knuckles turned white, but he didn't seem to notice.

"You cried?" she asked softly, unbuckling the seatbelt and scooting closer to him on the bench seat. He still didn't seem to be focusing on what he was doing, and his eyes were as hard as granite. "What happened Sasuke?"

He felt her small hand on his and glanced at her, seeing the honest concern in her eyes and in the warmth of her skin on his hand. "Have you ever lost someone very close to you Sakura? Like a parent or a brother or sister?" She shook her head no, and rubbed soothing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. "Then you could never imagine… how I feel right now. You've heard of the blood-spattered past of the Uchiha family haven't you?"

"Yes," she recollected thoughtfully, "the entire District was murdered in a single night, except you and your older brother who were somehow spared. The culprit was never found, though." She recalled that fact from Kakashi-san, who told her to be wary around Sasuke because of his terrible past. He growled bitterly and shook his head in revulsion, running his other hand through his hair.

"'The culprit was never found…'! That's bullshit, Sakura, because I know exactly who the fucker is that killed my entire family!" She had never seen him this angry before and honestly it was frightening her. A dark shadow hovered behind the good light in his eyes, something she had never noticed before, and something that she felt could easily corrupt the honest heart inside of the Uchiha boy. She could feel tears well in her eyes at the sight of him, and her hand started to shake on his. Did he notice how terrified he was making her? "It was my bastard brother, Itachi, who killed them!"

"No!" she whispered, her whole body shaking. Sasuke was out for revenge, revenge on his own brother! That was what he had devoted his life to, killing Uchiha Itachi for the crimes he had committed to him, the youngest Uchiha. The tears fell down her face and onto his hand, and that seemed to bring him back to Earth from wherever his mind had wandered to. Down some dark alley, leading to the evil side of Sasuke. _No_, she thought, _I can't let him go down that road, I have to stop him from doing it!_

"Sakura, why are you crying?" he questioned, looking concerned and startled. He pulled his hand out from under hers and gripped her shoulders, trying to make her stop. It was disconcerting.

She told him in a whisper, "No, Sasuke-kun! Please, don't go down that path! It scares me, please!" He embraced her tightly, trying to stop her shaking, her crying. He didn't like it because it didn't suit her at all. She was a strong woman, with her own concerns and shouldn't be wasting her tears and worries on him. "Don't act like that; it doesn't… it just isn't **you**. Please…" She was begging him, not to take out his revenge, something he had sworn to do.

"I can't promise you that Sakura," he said quietly, letting go of her and pressing the release on the car doors to unlock them. "I will kill him. That's just the way it is. No one can change that, not you, nor Naruto, or anyone else." She took the hint and stepped out of the car into the freezing rain, watching his face from outside. She hadn't even noticed the rain had started due to the intense situation within the car, and she hugged herself as she began to shut the door. "Thank you Sakura, for letting me get that off my chest. I really… needed to talk to someone."

She blinked and said, "Sasuke-kun?" He had a small smile on his face and she returned it. "You're welcome Sasuke-kun. Just remember, if you ever need to talk, I'm here, all right?" He nodded and she slammed the car door closed, waving goodbye as he started up the engine and drove off to the direction of his house. She didn't seem to notice the freezing rain on her back as a warm feeling filled up in her heart, and a silly smile on her lips. She also didn't seem to notice that she was out there for about another ten minutes before she realized she was cold. Turning around she strode up the steps to her house and opened the door, stepping in and glancing around.

No one was home yet, her parents were still at work, and her little brother still at school. A loud bark alerted her attention and her dog ran past her out the door, and she sweatdropped realizing that she was going to have to go get him.

…**:oOo:…**

The next morning in class, Sakura didn't seem to be faring very well. Naruto noticed first, due to her lethargic behavior and lack of attention to anything going around them. She seemed to have bags under her eyes, and as Sasuke walked in she fell asleep at her desk. He gave her a strange look but didn't say anything as he sat down, hooking his bag on the back of his chair and waiting for class to start.

Then, things really started to get strange, because even when the bell rang she still didn't stir, and when Kurenai started to lecture she didn't budge an inch. He prodded her in the side but she still didn't move. On a whim, he moved her bangs aside and placed a hand on her forehead, and realized she was burning hot. He raised his hand to alert their teacher. "Kurenai-sensei, something's wrong with Sakura!"

She walked over to the pink haired Seeker, and felt her forehead. Looking startled she told them, "I'll call the nurse." Walking over to the telephone she picked up the receiver and dialed the four digit number for her. "Shizune-san, we have a sick girl in our class, can she come down?" After a few moments of listening she hung up and pointed to Sasuke and Naruto. "Will you two please help get her there? Shizune-san has her hands full at the moment with a few other students and can't send anyone."

Nodding, Sasuke scooped up the girl in his arms and Naruto grabbed the door for him. As they exited the blond asked, "What could she have gotten, I wonder?" He shrugged and they remained silent as they trudged through the halls towards Shizune's office. Knocking on the door he called, "Hey, Shizune-san! We've got a sick girl in our hands, dattebayo!" Then he shot Sasuke a look and amended, "Well, in his hands at least…"

The black haired woman threw open the door and let them in, leading them to an empty cot so she could examine her. After a methodical inspection she nurse asked them, "Was she out in the rain for an extended period of time?" They both furrowed their brows and the blond perked up.

"Well she walks home, so maybe—"

"No," Sasuke cut him off. "I gave her a ride home yesterday. So the only amount of rain was from my car to her doorway after I dropped her off…" A low voice sounded startling them.

It was one of their classmates, Shino, stood there with Kiba in the doorway, watching the sick girl with a thoughtful expression. "I saw her yesterday, because I live next door… After you dropped her off she stood in the rain for about ten minutes. But when she went back inside, her dog got out and she spent the better part of two hours trying to catch it." Sasuke blinked, digesting this new information and Shizune sighed.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that I'll have to call an ambulance. She's got pneumonia." The onyx-eyed man gave her a shocked expression and slumped in the seat next to the bed. _Pneumonia… She's got… pneumonia…_ "Thank you Shino and you can lay Kiba down here. Everyone seems to be getting sick recently… Oh, you two can go back to class."

Naruto headed for the door but Sasuke questioned, "Can I stay? I want to go with her to the hospital. I'm…" he wracked his brain for a plausible excuse before blurting, "her boyfriend." The blond's jaw dropped but the nurse didn't seem to notice, watching Sasuke skeptically. "Please? I'm really worried about her." She sensed the truth in his voice and smiled, reaching for her cell phone.

"You'll have to get permission from your parents…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he looked at the ground, causing her to remember and frown. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry… Here, I'll just notify your teacher. Kurenai-san, ne?" He nodded yes and soon the arrangements were made, and he was hopping in the back of the ambulance with Sakura.

…**:oOo:…**

During lunch, Naruto explained to situation to the rest of the Fire Country Seekers and Gaara and Masao. Suddenly his cell phone vibrated, and he saw he had a message from Sasuke: 'dnt wait 4 me if thr is a mssn. Jst go wthout me bcuz im styn wth Sakura.' He sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair, trying to calm his nerves. Great. How were they expected to do any type of mission with two of their best members gone? He watched the table with a strange expression, choosing to shoot glances at Gaara from moment to moment.

The redhead had divulged important information to him earlier, some which had been very shocking to hear. Something he hadn't expected to become aware of. Hinata glanced up at him, noticing her crush's gloomy disposition and tapped his shoulder bravely. "Naruto-kun, is e-everything all r-right?" she questioned softly, out of notice of anyone else at the table that were chatting about Sakura's well being.

"Yeah, I'm just surprised that's all," he replied quietly, seeming out-of-sorts for some reason. Whatever information had surprised him had unsettled him as well, and the blue haired Hyuuga noticed that more than anyone seemed to. He noted her worried expression and sighed, glancing around. "Can you keep a secret?" She nodded and tilted her head, watching him in confusion. "There's something… inside of me, Hinata-chan. A Vampire Lord named Kyuubi was trapped inside of me when I was born." Her eyes opened wide, the legend of junchūrikis her father told her becoming evident to her now. "And I knew that, but what I didn't know is that…" He glanced to the sea green eyed boy and finished, positioning his voice so low she could hardly hear him, "Gaara has a Vampire Lord named Shukaku inside of **him**!"

Hinata's white eyes spread opened even wider, the tales of the Nine Vampires Lords flickering across her mind. While in training she had been required to read a book on them, and obviously for good reason. "D-demo, Naruto-kun, w-what does th-that mean?"

"I'm not sure, but I know that I get a lot of strength from that bastard Kyuubi, and Gaara can control that vampiric sand thanks to Shukaku," he shook his head and wrung his hands. Hinata patted his shoulder consolingly. At least it was Friday.

…**:oOo:…**

Masao woke up slightly early the next day, watching the ceiling for a moment before getting up. Her maroon hair was tousled around her face scruffily and she glanced in the mirror to see that she had a dent in her skin from sleeping on her arm all night. Stretching, she shuffled lazily over to the closet that had she used in this room, and pulled on a red skirt and a purple and black shirt. Turning to her calendar, she saw that it was Saturday, and for some reason it had a little heart and 9:00 a.m. doodled on it. Knitting her brow, she tried to remember what was so significant about that day, and she grinned. "My date with Gaara-sama!" she sighed, spinning around. She dived back into her closet and changed into a lovely silver kimono, one he had complimented her on one time.

Glancing at the clock on her wall she saw that it was 8:17, giving her plenty of time to walk down to the coffee shop and wait for him. She left the ANBU building and strode on the sidewalk, a shawl about her shoulders to keep herself warm. It didn't take long for the stoic faced Seeker to get to where she was going, and when she got there she sat at one of the inside tables, right b the door, so he could see where she was and just sit down. "May I get you anything, onee-san?"

She shook her head no and replied, "No thank you, I'm waiting for my date to get here." He nodded and moved on to the next table, leaving Masao to wait for Gaara by herself.

Gaara walked down the road heading for the shop Masao had pointed out to him after school one day. When it was in sight, he smiled slightly, causing a couple of girls who were watching him to almost faint. But as fate would have it, his cell phone rang and he pulled it out. "Hello?"

"Gaara-sama? Can I speak with you please?"

Sighing, the redhead told the voice, "Yashamaru-jii, I'm right in the middle of something important, can it wait?" He heard background voices conversing with his uncle, and he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Sorry, I don't think so. Kazekage-sama says it's very imperative." The Seeker narrowed his eyes, not wanting to speak one minute to his father. He heard fumbling on the line and another voice spoke up.

"Gaara, Dad wants to talk with you," Kankurou told him urgently, and he heard his sister yell something at him, trying to get Gaara to hear. "Shut up, Temari, I'm talking to him! Is whatever you're doing really that important? Can it wait?"

Blowing a piece of crimson hair out of his face, he glanced at Masao sitting in the coffee shop in the silver kimono he liked. She had a smile on her lips and he hated to be the reason why she went back to frowning all the time. "Yes, it can wait, Kankurou," he answered dejectedly, turning on heel and heading back to the ANBU HQ building. He put his brother on speakerphone while he sent Masao a text message, apologizing.

Inside her room her cell phone vibrated, under the bed and plugged into the charger.

The clocks struck nine fifteen and Masao left the coffee shop, knowing that he wasn't going to come. Even though he said he would like to, but didn't. Her heart fell into her sandals as she walked back to her quarters, staring at the sidewalk. She didn't expect Gaara to be the type to stand someone up, but it seemed that he did. With no explanation either. It wasn't a Gaara thing to do, and she bit her lip. Maybe something came up, something he had to do, and he couldn't make it. She checked her beg and noted she didn't have her cell phone, and nodded. "He probably texted me or called me, and I don't have my cell phone… That's it."

She felt a lot better now, and she entered the building with a small smile on her face. Gaara was in the lobby arguing with someone on his cell phone. She blinked and walked over to him as she snapped the phone shut angrily. "What's going on Gaara-sama?" she questioned, watching him in confusion.

"The Kazekage is being unreasonable," he growled, a rarely shown sign of aggravation. "He wants us to abort the mission!" All thoughts of their ruined breakfast date vanished from her mind and she stared at him in incredulous.

"Are you serious? What the hell for!" She shook her head and ran a hand through her maroon hair in frustration. The Kazekage had been unreasonable before, but nothing like this. Why on earth would he order a termination for this mission? It didn't make any sense. Konoha ANBU and Suna ANBU were long allied organizations, and when one needed aid the other always gave it. "What reason did he give, Gaara-sama?"

"None, none at all. That's what's so strange. The Kazekage always has a reason for what he does, whether or not it's a good one always depends but… this time, nothing."

Masao yelled, resentment for her partner's father sieving obviously into her voice, "That doesn't make any sense! We can't just abandon Kakashi-san and everyone else for no reason! What are we going to do Gaara-sama?" He furrowed his brow and watched the floor, his arms crossed over his chest in thought. What were they going to do? If they didn't return to Suna Gaara's father would probably remove them from the ANBU squad, but that didn't really bother him at the moment. What really unsettled him was the fact that they had been called back before the mission was even finished. Kazekage-sama would never pull troops unless something big was happening at home, but it didn't seem like that was the issue at all from what Temari told him. What then?

"Gaara, Masao?" They both looked around to see Shikamaru walking towards them, holding papers in his hands and looking at the sheets in confusion. "I received an e-mail from the Kazekage that you guys are to be sent home immediately. What's going on?"

"We're trying to figure that one out ourselves," she replied, straightening out her kimono so that it hung right. That seemed to mystify the brunet even more and she explained, "He pulled us out with no explanation and no warning. That's not like him at all, so we're trying to figure out why he might've done that." Ino followed him out with another couple sheets of paper and stopped next to the genius.

"This is another one from Suna," the blonde told her partner, leafing through them to make sure she was right. She held them out to him and he took them from her hand.

He read through it, and told them, "This is from a girl named Temari. Do you know her?"

"That's my older sister," Gaara replied simply.

"She's warning you not to come home." They glanced at each other then back again. "Apparently, something's wrong with your father, and she has reason to believe that's not the real Kazekage."

"So that means we stay here then," Masao decided, glancing to her partner who nodded. "Until we can figure out exactly what the situation with the Kazekage entails we have little other choice." Shikamaru nodded as well and gave the e-mails back to Ino. Taking out his cell phone he dialed a number and held it up to his ear.

"Kakashi-san, we have a bit of a troublesome problem," he said halfheartedly into the mouth piece. Ino gave him a look of annoyance. He said 'mendo kusai' way to much for her taste, and it was a bit of an irritation.

A loud yawn sounded on the other end, and the brunet sweatdropped. "What is it Shikamaru?" As the silver haired man listened to him, the Nara's story seemed to get stranger and stranger the farther it progressed. His eyes narrowed the man told him, "All right, they have to stay, but I'm going to talk to Hokage-sama and get her opinion. Shikamaru, you and Ino call the rest of the Seekers and have them come down to headquarters. We'll discuss what to do then." He hung up after that, trying to decide on the best course of action. Nothing seemed to fit anymore! The Kazekage not being himself was a bad sign indeed, because of his high authority in Suna and influence in other nations. His computer beeped, signaling the presence of an e-mail, and throwing back his covers and walked over to his computer.

It was from an address that had led him to other covens before: When he clicked it, he saw that it was another tip of a vampire coven living in an abandoned factory near an old Christian church. Ironic to be sure, but it was a good lead. The sender hypothesized about ten or fifteen in the coven, and Kakashi printed the e-mail after typing his thanks back to them. They had a job tonight.


	7. Into the Trap

**A/N**: I forgot something totally important! This is totally and wholly dedicated to my best friend in the entire universe, 12CBlood. I love you Jacky!

Chapter 6: Into the Trap

Tenten, Neji, Naruto, and Hinata came to the HQ at the beckon of Ino and Shikamaru, and all sat in a conference room with Shika, Ino, Masao, and Gaara. The silver haired man entered an hour after everyone, with Tenten yelling at him, "You're late again Kakashi-san!"

He chuckled and sat at the head of the table, watching all of the talented men and women sitting before him. He said to them, "I'm sure you're all aware of the situation at hand in the Sand." His words were met by a collective nod.

"What the hell is it all about?" Naruto called, his arms crossed and his eyes squinted closed.

"**We're** still not sure yet, Naruto-san," Masao explained, her chin resting in her hand and sighing. Hinata gave her an encouraging smile and she nodded at the blue haired Hyuuga.

Kakashi started up again, "Nevertheless, we still have a job to do tonight. Gaara-kun, you and Masao-kun have a choice whether or not to participate. I'm not going to force either of you." They glanced at each other and came to a silent agreement.

"We'll fight," Gaara replied, his arms crossed over his chest. The eye patch wearing man nodded and stood up, everyone following suit. As he headed for the door he stopped suddenly, tapping his chin and glancing back at the rest of them.

He questioned them, "I just realized something. Where're Sakura and Sasuke?"

Naruto's hand shot into the air, and he called, "They're at the hospital, Kakashi-san! Sakura-chan's got pneumonia, dattebayo!" Everyone else nodded in agreement and the blond added, "Sasuke's determined to stay with her until she's better."

"Well," Neji told him, glancing over his shoulder at the blue eyed boy. "We'll have to do this without them then. Let's go get suited up and ready to go." Shikamaru and Ino headed for the Ops Center and as everyone else left, Gaara grabbed Masao's shoulder and turned her around. She blinked and tilted her head in confusion.

He told her awkwardly, "I'm… sorry about the coffee date, Masao… But, I promise I'll make it up to you. How about this Saturday?" She blushed pink and smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He looked slightly taken aback, and he began to barely smile too.

She told him, "I'll hold you to your word, Gaara-sama, as the future Kazekage. Count on it." They met up with the rest of the Fire Country Seekers in the locker rooms and got changed, preparing for the new set of adversaries to fight against. Masao entered the girls' locker room and changed into her leather pants and vest, and pulled her combat boots on as well. Following Hinata and Tenten out of the room, she pulled her bag with her weapons out of the locker and slammed it shut. The three were given Sakura's vaccine and were sent outside where the boys were waiting.

Neji glanced over them all and declared, "Okay, let's get going then." Soon they were outside on the roof, running at almost reckless speed towards their target vampires. In the headsets, they heard Shikamaru tapping on his precious computer, and muttering to himself as he went.

Finally he spoke to them. "Mendo kusai," he murmured under his breath, not meant to be head by them. Then he said, louder, "All right guys, we're going to break in there with stealth, and take them out quietly. There should be between ten and fifteen." There was a shared concurrence as they all agreed with the plan and began to see the building through the dim lighting. It was one of the larger factories in Konoha, shut down years ago due to 'health violations'. But in veracity, the vampires began recruiting the workers, and the disappearance of the staff is what really shut the plant down.

Neji and Tenten were the first to the top, next to the cliché glass plating all roofs like that had. The brunette had carefully cut a sheet of the glass out and set it aside, and tossing a rope down slid to the floor below. Neji followed after, and then Naruto and Hinata. Masao and Gaara were last, the former going in after the latter, and they stay against the walls, letting the darkness be their veil of protection. "Shikamaru," Naruto whispered into his headset, glancing around the room uncertainly. "I can't see a damn thing!"

But Hinata and Neji could see fine, considering what the Hyuuga family was famous for. Somewhere down the line of evolution, a strange occurrence took place in the Hyuuga genetics, causing not just normal day eyesight, but also nocturnal vision as well. Their white eyes were the proof of the trait, and it always was passed down the family line. The two Hyuuga examined the surrounding area, both beginning to feel anxious. "Shikamaru," Neji said quietly into his microphone. "How many did you say there were?"

"Between ten and fifteen, why?" Without waiting for an answer he did a quick search throughout the building. His eyes opened wide and his hands dropped to his lap. "Ino, tell me if I'm really seeing this, please." Sensing the urgency in his voice, the blonde walked over to the brunet and glanced at the computer screen. Her blue eyes paled in shock, and all of the color drained from her face.

"Oh, shit…" she whispered, gripping the back of his computer chair.

He replied, his eyes narrowed, "I thought so…" Turning back to the main line he yelled, "Get the hell out of there! There are over **two hundred** fucking vampires in that damn room!"

"What!" Naruto demanded, louder than he should have. The lights suddenly flickered on and the four of them without specialized vision winced at the sudden change in illumination. Glancing around, they saw that Shikamaru was not over exaggerating. Masao pulled out her knives, getting ready to fight, but Tenten put a hand on her shoulder.

She whispered, "This is way too much for us to handle! We have to get out of here before we get killed!" She claret haired girl ignored her and shrugged her hand off. Walking forward with Gaara, the two cold hearted vampire killers readied their weapons.

"Then you four leave," Gaara told them, his arms crossed over his chest, and a large amount of desert sand pouring out from a metal pack on his back. "We've handled more vampires than this alone." Neji shook his head, causing his coconut locks to wave around his head.

He told them severely, "We're a team as of now. I don't give a damn if you're from Suna; you still listen to me as team leader. We're going to leave." Masao snorted and gave him a disbelieving look.

"Do you really think they're just going to quietly let us leave?" He made no reply, her words making sense to him. "No, they'll follow us until we're all dead."

Hinata put a hand to her headset and questioned, "Shikamaru, what's th-the best c-course of a-action?" The man thought very carefully, taking in all sides of the situation, and what the outcomes would be for each variable of each plan. He needed to make sure they could each get a set of their own vampires to take down, so they wouldn't be overwhelmed, but how to do that…?

Then it struck him and he called into the mike, "All right, listen closely and do exactly as I say. Masao, Gaara, in terms of speed you two are the fastest, so you leave first. Then Neji and Tenten, then Hinata and Naruto. Leave in the space of eight seconds, to give the other team a chance to get as far away as possible. Hopefully, most will follow Gaara and leave the slower ones to follow Neji and then Naruto. Masao, Gaara, go when I give the signal. Understand?"

"Yes sir," Naruto told him, watching the amber eyes of the various vampires. They were creepy enough to be sure, and it really didn't help that they were advancing on them like birds of prey.

Suddenly he shouted, "GO!" The two vanished from the ground and up the rope through the ceiling with record speed, and the front line vampires followed after. But, as predicted by Shikamaru, two thirds of the others stayed behind. Exactly eight seconds later Neji and Tenten followed the same route up, taking another third of the monsters with them. Naruto gave Hinata a boyish grin, boosting her determination, and she smiled back, counting the seconds. _Six… seven… eight!_ They flew up the rope with the rest of the leeches following, and out back into the cold air that December offered. White dust met them outside and it was obvious that the other two teams had done a good job.

Hinata took a deep breath and shot behind her, taking out a good number of vampires from the position. Naruto began acting strange, his eyes amber and his skin abnormally pale. His canines were longer than they should have been, and she recognized these as vampiric traits. Kyuubi was peeking through the blond boy. "N-Naruto-kun, be c-careful!" He nodded at her and killed a few more that managed to catch up to them. "Sh-Shikamaru? H-How long do w-we have to keep this u-up for?" There was no reply from him, and Hinata frowned, wondering what on earth could be going on.

"Damn it!" Shikamaru cursed furiously, pounding on his keyboard. Nothing seemed to work, and the headset was somehow offline, preventing him from communicating with any of the eight of them. Something gave and a shock pulsed through the monitors, causing one of the already spastic screens to burst. Tuesdays just weren't his day it seemed. He turned to see back away from a sparking computer, a frightened look on her face. "Ino, get out of here! All of the electronics are on the fritz and you might get hurt!"

She called back, "Not without you Shika! Get away from those damn computers for once! There's nothing you can do!" The blonde reached her hand out to him, and he mumbled angrily under his breath.

"No Ino!" Shikamaru told her firmly, putting his foot down for the first time in a long while. "I can shut the computers down which would stop them from getting any worse!" Tears poured down her cheeks in worry and he sighed, taking her hand and going out of the room with her. _This is the only way it seems. Mendo kusai! Women are so troublesome! _"I'm sorry Ino," he whispered to her, turning on heel and running back into the Ops Center. He shut and locked the door, and she stared through the glass at him, water still falling from her azure eyes.

"Shikamaru!" she screamed, pounding on the glass with her fist. "You bastard! Get out of there right now!" A fire had started inside as a result of the sparks flying from the broken screen, and she could see him struggling to get around the flames to the main power box. "Shikamaru you baka what are you doing!" He could hear her frantic shouts through the glass, and noted dryly that she had a big mouth to be able to get through as thick a material as that. _Someone hacked into the entire computer system,_ he noticed when the smoke sensitive waterworks didn't automatically soak him down when the computers began to act up. A thought struck him and he hopped onto his personal network, much to Ino's dismay. "ARE YOU CRAZY! Get away from the fucking computer Shikamaru!"

Ignoring her, he downloaded the codes of all the computers that had been on his network, and printed them out. Taking the paper and tucking it away into his pocket, he reached out for the power switch. Another monitor burst and he jumped back to avoid the shower of embers that emanated from the now broken screen. He reached out and pushed the switch down, causing all of the electricity to stop flowing to the cables. The door suddenly opened as the sprinklers turned on, and the purple clad woman stumbled in. "Ino…" he mumbled, watching run up to him.

"You're the smartest idiot I know," she whispered, hugging him tightly as the water stifled the flames, causing her blonde hair to stick to her skin like plaster. "Don't you ever worry me like that again you… you…" She couldn't think of a good name to call him, so she just hugged him tighter. Shikamaru sighed and patted her back awkwardly, trying to calm her down.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," he told her, smiling slightly and leading the distressed woman out of the charred room. She sniffed and followed, allowing him to place his hand on the small of her back to help her go.

…**:oOo:…**

Tenten was still shocked at how well the two worked together. It seemed that Gaara and Masao were the perfect team, complimenting another's moves and practically reading each other's minds. Even under these circumstances, everything seemed to go perfectly for them. But she couldn't follow them as they continued on down the dark alley, having her own issues on her hands, as well as helping Neji. "Good luck you two," she called. Masao nodded at her in response, as the brunette vanished from her sight.

"Gaara-sama, it seems there are a good sixty rounded up behind us." He shook his head and watched his partner closely, causing her to cock an eyebrow in wait.

Gaara told her, almost hesitantly, "Masao… you don't have to follow me on this. I mean… if you're not up to it…" She laughed heartily and patted his shoulder, speeding ahead of him and taking out her throwing knives.

She told him, her eyes oddly soft, "I would never abandon you Gaara-sama. Ever. You mean more to me than anything in this world." As she turned around, he felt a strange, hot feeling building up in his cheeks. It took him a moment before he realized he was blushing slightly. It was a foreign concept to him, but the look in her eyes made he feel… warm inside. He shook his head, and followed after her, his sand swirling around him.

He knew that they'd be outnumbered, and he knew that their friends couldn't do it alone. But Masao was too stubborn to let the Fire Country ANBU do it by themselves, not when she was perfectly healthy and able to give them a hand. He watched her use her quick momentum to run up the side of a building and followed suit, glancing back for a moment to eye the dozens of vampires following behind. Each of them kept vanishing little by little as Neji, Tenten, Hinata, and Naruto took out the various stragglers. He wished Sakura was all right, so she and the anxious Sasuke could be there to help. But the Uchiha blatantly refused to leave the medical ward's side, even for an instant, to make sure her pneumonia got better.

Masao stopped at the top, her knives twirling between her fingers and smirking contentedly. "This is what life's all about, ne, Gaara-sama?" He stopped before her and nodded, facing the first few inhumans that crawling over the side. She ran over and slid under the first one, stabbing him in the back and turning to look at the next one. She threw her blade at him and it flew straight through it into another one. She flipped forwards and grabbed the knife from the roof, stabbing behind herself without even looking at the vampire she knew was there.

Meanwhile, Gaara had sent his vampirically controlled sand after the next few, the grains wrapping around their torsos and crushing them. More climbed up and over, only to be crushed and stabbed by the two partners. Masao stuck her hand out and he grabbed it as she tossed him into the air, and as she leapt after him they knocked away all of the leeches that jumped after. Suddenly, he glanced at her, and she coughed up blood, looking shocked. He glanced around her and saw that she had been stabbed with a set of wakizashi in her stomach, the man still hanging from them. With blind fury, he practically flew over and punched the man in the face, and soon after crushed him with his sand.

The redhead hit the ground and caught the woman, falling to his knees and watching her face. Wincing slightly, she pulled the steel from herself and tossed them aside, standing up shakily. "Masao, you're in no condition to fight!" he scolded, reaching out to her.

She glanced back at him and sighed. "Maybe not to fight, but I can still protect you, and fulfill my contract, ne? Protect you until my very last breath." Gaara tried to protest, but the look on her face stopped him. Her eyes opened wide and she ran towards him, and, pushing him aside. Things seemed to move in slow motion for him, as he watched helplessly while she was bombarded with throwing knives. She wobbled slightly on her feet, groaning in pain, tears building up in her death-induced, foggy eyes.

"Masao," he breathed, watching her in shock. He couldn't move, he was completely frozen. Again she jumped in front of him, blocking more attacks of bullets, knives and other small projectiles. All fighting seemed to stop as she fell to her knees before Gaara, gulping slightly.

"Hey… you okay… Gaara-sama?" she questioned, watching him with worried eyes. Crimson liquid dripped down her skin and pooled on the smooth surface of the roof, staining her clothing and her hair. She coughed violently and spat more up that drizzled down her chin. "I couldn't just… sit by and let you… get hurt now could I?" He reached out to her as she tried to get up and walk over to him, but she just collapsed into his arms. The female Seeker examined her wounds, taking in the damage that had been done. "I believe this is fatal… We'll never have our coffee date Gaara-sama…"

"What are you talking about! You're **not** going to die, Masao!" he yelled, holding her close and trying not to injure her body even more. Tears dripped down her face and she smiled softly, her silvery eyes losing their normal, lively gleam.

"Hinata was right," she whispered, smiling bitter sweetly. "I do love you…"

He screamed uncontrollably, "**No! **You're **not **gonna die!" She chuckled slightly, and scanned his tearing green eyes with an ironic smile. She sighed, and grinned.

"I was always letting you down… wasn't I?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. His face, he noted absently, was inches from hers, and a single drop of water slid down his cheek. _Oh Masao… _he thought sadly, closing his eyes. _You never… ever… let me down. In fact… I always let you down… didn't I? _He could feel her shaking lips near his as a vision of her sitting alone at the coffee shop floated through his mind. _…sorry for that…Masao…_ He gently captured her mouth with his own, softly holding her face in his hands. As her lips parted from his, her eyes didn't open again, and she fell limp in his arms.

He set her down gingerly on the ground, and glared up at the remaining vampires that looked on. They all gulped with terror as he stood up, holding his fist in the air as he wrapped **his** sand, and newly found sand created from minerals in the dirt, around the remaining thirty or so vampires, crushing them instantly in a fit of controlled anger.

The four Fire Country ANBU caught up to where they knew Gaara to be, and climbed the building with ease. Tenten and Naruto were first, spotting the redhead surrounded by enormous piles of ashes. He was shaking and was hunched over something. Tenten knew something was instantly wrong, and started to run over, only to have her arm grabbed by Neji. "Wait, Tenten," he told her, and reached for Naruto but was unable to stop him in time. He stopped behind Gaara and stopped, seeing with horror what he was cradling.

The Seeker had tears falling rapidly down his cheeks, holding Masao close to his body. His eyes were unfocused and wild, like he couldn't concentrate on anything. "G-Gaara?" Naruto breathed, reaching a hand out to the red-haired Seeker. He made no reply, the man didn't even move from the spot. The blond turned and saw Neji, Tenten, and Hinata walking over to them looking concerned.

"W-what's… what's wrong N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, walking over. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she put a hand to her mouth. "Oh… oh no!" Neji hugged a sobbing Tenten, feeling grateful that she was there right then, and watched Gaara with a sad expression on his face. Naruto shook furiously, grinding his teeth together in his anger. Gaara didn't worry who was there right then, all that mattered to him with the limp body in his arms. That's all that he cared about. He knew nothing could bring her back from the dead, nothing. But he continued to sit there, Masao's corpse cuddled close to his chest, his heart wrenching cries echoing into the night.

…**:oOo:…**

"He hasn't eaten much of anything in five days," Tenten told the cured Sakura, shaking her head in worry. The pink haired woman glanced to Sasuke who gave her a half smile, trying to reassure himself as well as her. Gaara had come back with the woman in his arms, unmoving, and Sakura had immediately jumped on the case when she was released from the hospital, making Gaara stay in his room. She hadn't told anyone about her progress, if any, and she was only here now on a short break.

She sighed. "Well, I'll see you two later, okay? Back to work." She stood up and the two of them nodded, Tenten leaving but Sasuke lingering behind for a moment. The rose haired girl glanced at him for a moment, and tilted her head. "Hai, Sasuke-kun?"

"Uh," he said, slightly flustered, and feeling awkward, "good luck, Sakura." She blinked and then smiled at him. Walking over, she kissed his cheek lightly and exited the room with a wave. A blush coated his cheeks as he watched her go, feeling slightly reassured, but about what he didn't know. He continued to watch the doorway long after she left, and Hinata had entered. She watched his distracted expression with concern.

"S-Sasuke? Are you o-okay?" He snapped out of his reverie and glanced at the white eyed girl for a moment before smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking Hinata." The blue haired girl pulled a small slice of pizza from the fridge and then turned back to the Uchiha, contemplating. He watched her tentatively for a moment as she decisively chewed a bit of the food, and then cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, can I help you?"

"Oh!" She blushed and turned away, pressing her forefingers together in a nervous gesture. "Ano, it's j-just that… I-I've n-noticed you've been getting a-along better with S-Sakura…" He shrugged and sat down in one of the metal chairs that sat at the counter, running a hand through his black hair. She sat next to him and bit off a tiny piece, then glanced back. "She… She really l-likes you, you know…"

"What do you mean, Hinata?" he questioned, giving her a strange look. She blushed darker, and turned her gaze to the rug below them.

"W-well, that is to say," she started, trying to find the right words. Taking a deep breath she began again, "Y-you see… Sakura seems t-to have developed… a c-crush on you." He felt a blush form across his cheeks and nose and watched Hinata like she was crazy. She saw his expression and biting her lip, told him quickly, "I-I'm not sure Sasuke. I-It j-just seems like that t-to me."

He told her, as if he was speaking to a mentally challenged child, "Sakura has barely come to terms with me, Hinata. Why would she have anything other than an unstable… partnership with me?"

"B-because you've h-helped h-her through s-so many th-things… Like the pneumonia, and you s-seem to t-trust her m-more than you d-do most p-people." She was right, more than she even knew. He told the pink haired medic about his plans for revenge, something he hadn't told anyone before that moment. There was something about Sakura that was so enticing to him, that he couldn't explain it even to himself. Yes, he had hated her. Hated her for saving him when he was too arrogant to admit that he might need someone's help, he hated her for trying to understand him, he hated her for getting to close to him and making him spill his guts about what he was planning. He hated all of that about her, yet that's also what he loved about her.

The Uchiha told the Hyuuga, "I hate her, Hinata. I hate her and everything she's done to me." He clenched his fists and glared at the tiles of the kitchen floor, trying to hide the truth for her observing eyes.

"No… y-you don't," she amended, smiling at him. He blinked and she left the room, running after Naruto as he passed the area. He shook his head and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to understand the slightly confusing dialogue that passed between himself and the shy girl. Sasuke was too resolute to admit that he had a growing respect for Sakura, and everything she's done for him and for the rest of the team. She was a powerful asset, and a great friend, someone reliable that he could trust. But also his rival, not as much as Naruto was, but along the same lines. He frowned, annoyed and leaned back in his chair. As Shikamaru would say, this was extremely troublesome.

Even if his stubborn, arrogant mind didn't want to admit it, Sasuke's honest, straightforward heart knew he was falling for the intelligent, beautiful, somewhat annoying Haruno Sakura.


	8. The New Guy

Chapter 7: The New Guy

As they entered into the hallway for the last time before Christmas break, a strange vision met their eyes. Standing before them talking with one of the twelfth grade teachers was a young man with black hair shaped into a bowl cut. Sakura noted with a slightly freaked expression that his eyebrows were so large if the Eyebrow Fairy came, he'd get more than a quarter under his pillow. He wore a green shirt and shorts, as if he had just gotten out of a workout video, and he had the muscle to match. "Who's that?" Naruto asked, motioning to the boy. "I've never seen him before, dattebayo…"

As if he heard the blond the boy looked over, and caught wind of the pink haired beauty standing next to him. Running up to the medic he gave her the thumbs up, his grinning teeth almost sparkling, and told her, "My name is Rock Lee, and if you go out with me I promise to protect you with my life!" She blinked and glanced around, trying to see if he was referring to someone else. All that met her eyes was completely cheesed off Sasuke, a shocked Shikamaru, and a clueless Naruto.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked, pointing at herself to demonstrate her confusion.

He nodded and questioned seriously, "May I ask this youthful flower's name?"

Again she glanced around herself, despite Lee's assurances that he was indeed talking to her, and told him hesitantly, "Uh, I'm Haruno Sakura, Lee-san…" A fire seemed to burn in his black eyes as he clenched his fist midair.

"Such a perfect name for a beautiful blossom as yourself!" he ranted, taking the emerald eyed girl's hand in his own and knelt down. Her eyebrows skyrocketed, watching him with astonishment, and Sasuke stepped forward, a murderous look in his eyes. "Would you do me the honor…" Sakura held her breath for a moment as he finished, "of going out with me this weekend?"

She blinked and then smiled sympathetically, fully prepared to decline in the nicest way possible, but Sasuke growled angrily, "No, she doesn't want to **Lee**, now go fuck off." He pulled Sakura away from the green clad senior, glaring at him, and the boy blinked as a false realization dawned on him.

"Are you two lovers already? Have I missed my moment to date the lovely Sakura-san?" Tears poured down his cheeks and Shikamaru watched him with an expression that was mixed between disgust and surprise. Pulling herself out of Sasuke's grip, Sakura shot the onyx haired Uchiha a dirty look before kneeling down by the crying Lee.

She told him, "Lee-san, don't get the wrong idea, Sasuke-kun's not my boyfriend. And," she shot him another contemptuous look, before smiling at the boy, "I'd love to go out with you this weekend." That perked him up phenomenally, and he grinned at her.

Hugging her tightly, he cheered, "Thank you for the chance to prove my worth, Sakura-san! You will not regret it I promise!" She waved goodbye to him and saw that Sasuke was glaring angrily after the powerfully built teen. She blinked in understanding and smiled at him slyly.

"Jealous, Sasuke-kun?" she teased, elbowing him in he gut. He shot her a fiery look and turned away, mumbling about how Lee was too old for her. She chuckled and walked with Shikamaru to their gym class, the brunet crawling along tiredly. She watched him with a humored expression and said, "Dude, Shika, I thought Ino would be riding on you to get more sleep since the computer fritz incident two weeks ago."

He told her, "Yeah, yeah, I know. But I have to find out what caused them to freak out like that. I found all of the computer codes that got onto my system, and most of them are legitimate. The problem is, there's so many damn codes that it's taking a long time to sift through them all. And I can't sleep until I find out who hacked the system." Sakura nodded and sighed, walking into the main gym to head for the locker rooms. Coming back out in the gym uniform of blue shorts and a white tank top, she saw that Rock Lee was in her gym class.

"Lee-san!" she called, running over to the boy. He glanced back at her and grinned, waving at the pink haired girl ecstatically. "I guess we're in the same gym class, huh?"

The black haired boy replied, "So it would seem dear beautiful flower!" She chuckled and ran to the girl's side of the gym as he walked to the boy's. It was boys versus girls in dodge ball, and Sakura and Tenten led the woman in the fight while Lee and a boy named Aburame Shino led the men.

She called to the weapons mistress, "With our aim, these boys are going down." She laughed and looked over to the stands where Shikamaru sat typing on his computer, and Gaara sat staring out the gym doors at the frosty area outside. The girl felt terrible for the man, seeing how he hadn't spoken in two weeks, and he barely ever ate.

"Poor Gaara…" she mumbled, turning back to the task at hand. Kicking the boys' asses. Holding up her red ball, she aim for Chouji, knowing that he'd be an easy target due to his slow pace. She hit him, and soon all of the other boys were gone, leaving Lee to fend for himself. On the girl's team was Tsuchi Kin, herself, and Sakura, all very good shots. "Get ready, Lee!" He smiled at her and stood ready, holding the only ball on the boy's side in his hand.

Sakura hurled the ball at him and he avoided it swiftly, going faster than any normal person should be able to. The pink haired girl gasped in surprise and Tenten took a shot, with him narrowly avoiding it. "Okay!" Gai-sensei called, blowing his whistle, "Brilliant displays of youth! But this class had been dismissed, so you can all go home!" Sakura and Tenten ran over to Lee.

"Lee! That was so cool!" Sakura said, crossing her arms over her chest with amazement. He smiled at her and held his fist in the air, tears brimming in his eyes. _I have impressed Sakura-san! _he thought with joy.

They met up after they got changed; waiting for the final bell to ring so they could go to lunch. Sakura stood outside in the cold atmosphere, watching the Health classroom window. Inside sat Sasuke, writing down something in his notebook as he paid attention to Jiraiya-sensei. She sighed with contentment, before she realized that she was blushing as she watched the black haired boy. Pressing a hand to her heart, she felt it flutter slightly. As if he realized she was looking at him, he glanced out the window, looking bored, and spotted her.

Smiling, Sakura waved to him, and he frowned, slouching in his seat and looking miffed. "What's your issue?" Naruto asked Sasuke from the seat behind him as the bell finally rang. When the onyx haired man didn't answer, he knocked on his forehead. "Hello, Sasuke-teme? This is Mission Control; please come in, over."

Giving the blond an annoyed expression he said, "Shut up, dobe." Standing up from the mostly empty classroom, the disgruntled junior exited the classroom with the blue eyed individual looking on in confusion. Sasuke stormed through the hallways with a sour expression, ignoring calls from his various fangirls and teachers. She did that on purpose, just to piss him off! He was trying to protect her from older men but **no** she had to go off and **accept** the damn date! That's what he gets for trying to be chivalrous. Maybe he should let her go off and date someone like… like **Shino**, the bug obsessed… gangster!

"Uh, Sasuke?" Ino asked, furrowing her brow uncertainly. "What's wrong with you? You look really pissed, like someone just shoved a crab down your shorts and it snapped onto your—" Her charming simile was cut short when a joyful voice called out to them from the end of the hallway.

"Sasuke-teme! Ino!" Naruto cheered, hugging the blonde in his extreme excitement. She looked repulsed and shoved him off, backing away from the over-excited Seeker. "School's finally out for Christmas Break, and that means I don't have to do any more homework!" Tenten and Neji met up with them a minute later, the brunette back from chorus and the white-eyed boy from the nurse's office (he had an eye exam, apparently), and the weapons mistress was ecstatic.

She applauded optimistically, "School's finally over! For two weeks at least…" She linked arms with Neji who blinked in confusion, and then shrugged, allowing himself to be carted out the door and to the bus. They were going to HQ to get some practice done and perhaps, Tenten hoped, to go get dinner afterwards. Hinata chuckled at her cousin's expression, and glanced over at Sasuke, who seemed rather angry. She turned to see the direction he was looking in and saw that Lee and Sakura were walking in that direction, talking animatedly with each other.

"S-Sakura, h-hi," she told her, waving when she saw that Sasuke was still being a bastard. She waved goodbye to Lee and hugged Hinata. "W-who's that?"

She explained, "He's a new boy this year, and he is kindly taking me on a date this Saturday." Hinata blinked. That's why the Uchiha seemed so mad. He was jealous of the black haired boy, and didn't want to admit it. Naruto laughed at him as he stormed out the school doors, Ino and the newly arrived Shikamaru right after him.

"It's so obvious he's jealous of bushy-brows, dattebayo!" he laughed, and looked to Hinata for her agreement. She nodded, blushing slightly and turned away at the eye contact. Naruto furrowed his bond eyebrows, his eyes curved up into slits of confusion and she smiled at him, running out to her car.

"HIYAH!" Loud shouts and crashes could be heard inside the training room, and anyone who had been around long enough would know that Neji and Tenten were working out. More specifically, sparring with each other. They were pretty much even, but that made everything that much more exciting.

Tenten yelled a battle cry, hurling a set of throwing knives in Neji's direction. He slid below them, and flipping forward powerfully punched her in the shoulder. She stumbled backwards only for a moment, before pulling out a set of nun-chucks and whipping them out in his direction. They barely clipped his elbow, but that was enough to set him off balance, giving the brunette time to pull her retractable scythe out and swing it at him. It skimmed the end of his hair and she frowned, watching for a split second the strands she had cut off float to the ground. That second he noticed she wasn't paying attention, he pulled out his sword and twisted his wrist, slitting the girl's upper arm. She winced in pain, as blood dripped down her arm, staining her pink shirt. He cut it a little closer than he meant to, and pulled his sword back, looking apologetic. "Nice one," she joked, clutching her wound tightly. "Oh, and sorry about your hair."

She walked over to the edge of the training arena and knelt down, opening a First Aid kit. Without hesitation she pulled her shirt off over her head, preparing to clean her arm up. Tenten sterilized it with an alcohol wipe, and pressed a gauze pad to it to stop the blood from dripping all over the floor. Neji averted his eyes, trying not to watch but really incapable of keeping his eyes away from her. She was physically fit, and slim and curved in figure. Noting she was having trouble wrapping the gauze around her arm, he walked over to her and sat down at her side, watching her progress. Tenten's chocolate eyes met Neji's vanilla ones, and he gave her a sight smile.

Taking the gauze from her, he ordered, "Hold still, Tenten. I'll help you dress that." Warm hands gently wrapped the cloth around her forearm, and she watched his stunning pearl eyes with enamored captivation. They were so… soft right then, so tender, and absolutely un-Neji like. They made her flush with embarrassment, knowing that he never behaved this way around anyone else besides her. She loved the feeling of his hands on her skin; it sent an amazing feeling through her body. "Tenten?"

She realized that she had been staring at the spot where she had been cut long after he had finished dressing it, and she laughed nervously. "Right, let's get back to training then." She pulled her long sleeved pink shirt back on and took her weapons out. Neji leapt backwards, ready to fight, but then Tenten sighed, dropping the weapons to the ground. "My arm…" she whimpered, clutching it. "I can't throw right with it." She picked up the various weapons she dropped and put them back away, looking rather miffed. "We'll have to postpone this for later, okay?"

"Mn," was his response, sliding the sword back into the sheath and exiting the training area. She followed him out, wondering if he would ever remember when she asked him out to dinner.


	9. Under the Facade

**A/N**: Sorry it took so long to update! i have had school and stuff keeping me behind, and with Honors classes across the board it's hard to update as frequently as I would like. With marching band too, competitions every Saturday, sectionals after every Tuesday and Tuesday night rehersals, and football games every Friday, it's really hard! I also have the two day BOA competition coming up, and then the three day U of A day, and the two day Reno and Tuscon competions, and it's a mess. I'll try to update when I can, just please be patient with me!

Chapter 8: Under the Façade

"Are we going to do this or not?" an annoyed voice asked, sitting on the roof of a residential house looking bored. "I want to blow something up, un. What's taking so long?" His crimson haired partner made no reply, glancing around the surrounding streets for anyone that might have the misfortune to pass by. The blond slumped where he was sitting; his blonde hair tussled around his face in his aggravation. He turned to the blond and gave him an impassive look that the honey eyed man took as a glare, which made him laugh. His companion had about as many facial expressions as a puppet, but the blond had been around vampire long enough to know exactly what dirty look he was giving him.

"Your impatience is aggravating," the man commented, his words making no impression on the other young man. He merely shrugged and leaned back, waiting for the man to give the signal. Finally, after another five minutes, the red-haired man whispered to his blond partner, "Go!" The two vampires slid silently from the roof and into the building, landing softly on the carpeted floor of the hallway. The two snuck into a bedroom they found was empty. It was obviously a girl's, with pink walls and stuffed animals everywhere. The two then slunk into a second one that was occupied. The blond smiled cheerfully, and the two pounced, soon rendering the man and woman in bed completely helpless. After the two were… disposed of, they merely dumped theircorpses on the floor, blood trickling down the blond one's chin. "You're impolite, and giving the rest of a bad name."

"Like I care," he responded affably, pulling a metal device from his trench coat pocket. "I'm just here to blow stuff up, un. But it's a shame the girl wasn't here. You could add her to your little corpse collection. Un, she'd be a nice little addition, eh?" The shorter man made no reply as the blond attached it to the wall, and pressed a key. The LED numbers on the screen claimed 10:00, and he pressed go. 9:59… 9:58… 9:57… 9:56…

…**:oOo:…**

Ino walked down the dark street, going home from her late night work that Shikamaru had asked her to do, so he could get some sleep. Well, work she **made** him give her, so she could force him to go to sleep. As she approached her house, she saw someone run away from it, quickly, and she couldn't catch who it was. She furrowed her brow, and shook her head, wondering if she was seeing things. As she scaled the steps to her house, she noticed that her door was completely busted out, and walking inside she saw that things there were not much better. Climbing the stairs to the second story, she entered her parents' bedroom and saw something lying on the floor, unmoving. Getting closer, she realized what it was, and was ready to start screaming.

A light ticking noise reached her ears, and she looked around. Glancing into the hall way, she saw a red light pulsing gently and upon closer inspection she saw red numbers counting down on it. Her blue eyes widened and she ran back into her parents' room, slamming the door shut just as the bomb latched onto her hallway wall began to explode.

…**:oOo:…**

Groggily Shikamaru awoke, uncertain to what had roused him from such a comfortable sleep. He suddenly realized that his cell phone was ringing, playing the song _Foxy Lady_ by Jimmy Hendrix (Naruto picked the ring tone out for him and he had been too lazy to change it back), and alerting him to who was calling him. Reaching out to grab the blue flip-phone, he opened it without taking it off the charger and said sleepily, "Ino? What's up?"

He heard choked sobs on the other end, and was jerked instantly awake. That couldn't be Ino; she… didn't cry or break down that easily. Something must be seriously wrong. Throwing the sheet from himself he sat up and waited for her response. "Can you," his partner sniffed, her voice cracking from her tears, "please come over here? I… need your help…"

"Yeah, give me a few minutes and I'll be right there," he replied instantly, getting out of bed and walking over to his closet. She hung up and he pulled on his black shorts and olive green jacket, tucking his phone into his pocket and grabbing his car keys. He just pulled on a pair of blue sandals, not even bothering with his sneakers. Exiting from his house and locking the door, he climbed into his car and drove down the familiar road to Yamanaka Ino's house.

Getting out of his sports car, he noticed that the glass door had been broken in, and the porch light smashed to bits. He glanced around in concern and opened the broken door, causing more glass to fall off the wooden frame. "Ino?" he called, flipping on a light switch. The bulb flickered on for a moment before bursting, causing sparks to fly everywhere. Pulling a flashlight from his back pocket, he turned it on and looked around the front room. Everything was completely totaled and charred a pitch black from flames burning away at things. The grand piano that had been in the living room was utterly torn apart, the white and black keys strewn across the floor. Bits and pieces of the parquet had been torn up, and glass littered the tiles in the kitchen. Scaling the stairs, he accidentally stepped on something flimsy and glanced down to see Ino's room sign laying on the floor in half. He hollered desperately, "Hey! Ino! Where are you!"

"Shikamaru!" he heard her whimper, and he crunched on some glass running into the room two down from hers. She stared back at him, tears falling from her blue eyes onto the ground. "Shikamaru …" She stood up and ran over to him, burying her face into his shoulder. He hugged her securely, trying to calm the distressed woman as he glanced around the room. Shining his flashlight on the ground, he saw two people lying there, unmoving. A pretty woman with brown hair and older looking man with dirty blond were piled on the wooden floor. They looked as if they had died of dehydration, their skin pressing against their bones as if there was nothing else there. Like all the blood had been drained out of them.

Ino shook madly and she sobbed heartbreakingly into his shirt, clutching the material as if her life depended on it. "Ino, what happened in here?" She hiccupped and wiped her eyes, not wanting to move from the warmth of his embrace. Her hair was a complete and total mess, the normally neat ponytail gone and her locks running down her back.

"I came home," she whispered, turning to face the bodies on the ground, her azure orbs still watery with tears. "From work, after analyzing all of the papers you gave me, and the entire place… was completely trashed…" She shook her head and glanced back at him, her eyes meeting his brown ones. "And my parents…" The girl shuddered violently, and finished, her voice almost inaudible, "Were dead."

His eyes widened in shock and he asked, "How!"

"Vampires. I'd know those symptoms anywhere, having worked with Sakura for so long." He watched Ino for a moment as she examined the bodies, not leaving his grip for an instant. She shook her head and placed her chin on his shoulder, searching for an answer that seemed beyond her reach, lurking in the shadows. "But… how?" she wondered, shaking her head, again. She slid her hand down his arm to hold his and squeezed it tightly. He brushed a stray piece of fair colored hair from her face and she sniffed. "My father was the Seeker before me, meaning he was even more skilled than I am… How… it couldn't have been some run-of-the-mill vampire…"

"Someone elite," Shikamaru mused, interlocking his fingers with hers to try and comfort her. "Possible someone… from the Akatsuki Coven."

She nodded, wiping her cheeks with the balls of her hands. "It would make sense, considering the Akatsuki, next to the Covens in Oto led by Orochimaru, are the biggest threat to humans. And to think… it was a lucky break that I…" She broke down again, attempting to hold back her sobs and tightening her grip on his hand.

"Ino," he whispered to her, releasing her hand and holding her shoulders gently. "It's all right, Ino, I'm here for you, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you." She glanced to the ground, her cerulean eyes still watery, and he smiled softly, cupping her cheeks and making her look up at him. "Listen to me, Ino. I swear on my life that I won't let anyone hurt you, whether it be the Akatsuki or Orochimaru himself. I'll be there, protecting you from harm." She nodded and smiled weakly. "Okay then," he began again, suddenly sounding all business and halfheartedly giving her a crooked smile. "Until all of this is sorted out, you need to stay with someone else for a bit. You can live at my house, if you don't mind." She shook her head no, that she wouldn't mind, and wrapped her arms around his torso, and he blushed, scratching his cheek in little shown embarrassment.

She whispered to him, "Arigatou Shikamaru." He shrugged and turned to bring the bodies back to the ANBU headquarters for examination. But before he picked them up, the pale haired girl put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around to face her, much to his obvious confusion. Standing on her toes, she pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and backed away with glowing cheeks. He gave her a half smile, his cheeks pink as well, and turned back to her family, preparing to pick them up and carry them back to the ANBU Headquarters. As soon as they stepped out of the house, a loud cracking sounded and the entire building collapsed behind them, and Ino fainted.

The brunet winced. One more thing he needed to carry back to headquarters.

…**:oOo:…**

"This is definitely Akatsuki work," Kakashi verified, examining the body of Ino's dead mother. "Most vampires at least leave a little blood in the body, and the bite isn't this clean. It's usually ragged. The Akatsuki Coven was definitely behind this." Sakura comforted her best friend as she blew her nose on a tissue, and the rest of the group stayed silent. This is a lot bigger than they had originally thought. The enemy knew who they were and where they lived, who their loved ones were. "Plus, they destroyed the entire house afterwards, hoping more of us might be inside."

Shikamaru demanded, slamming his still slightly burnt hands on the table, "Shouldn't we take care of the rest of our families then? Bring them here for extended protection from the Akatsuki!" Sakura sighed and moved away from the blonde, who brushed her off. She didn't want to be comforted anymore. As she was passing by to her seat, Sasuke smirked at her and lightly grabbed her wrist, pulling the female Seeker into his lap. She blushed, and although everyone noticed no one said anything, not even Naruto who was too caught up in what was going on.

Gaara suggested, finally talking to the rest of them, "I could request my brother and sister from Suna to lend us a hand, and watch your families while they're in custody in this building." The silver haired man contemplated, and raised a finger in an idea.

"I also have allies in other parts of Konoha, and I can get a few of them down here." He listed them off on his fingers, "Genma, Shizune, Gai…" Naruto comically spit a swig of soda he had taken across the room and watched Kakashi in total shock. Neji and Sasuke gave him equally disgusted looks and Hinata sighed, going to go grab paper towels.

"Gai-sensei? The Health teacher from our school! And Shizune-san, the nurse!" he shouted, his eyes looking circular and completely white. Tenten chuckled and nodded, smiling at him. "Wait, you **knew** that Tenten?" She nodded again.

The redhead from Suna told him, "It was obvious if you paid attention." Everyone else agreed, leaving Naruto with no doubt in his mind that he was the only one who didn't know that their hot-blooded Health teacher was a vampire hunter, and their pretty, level-headed nurse was one too. "And that boy that Sakura dated, he's one too." That no one seemed to know, and all eyes snapped to the green eyed Seeker. He blinked his heavily blackened eyelids and glanced from shocked face to shock face, looking impassive. "Masao found that out a few weeks ago, before… you know…"

"Y-Yes," Hinata said, breaking the silence as she entered back into the room with paper towels for Naruto. "Um, Kakashi-san, t-two people are here th-that I've never—" Before she could finish her sentence the unknown individuals traipsed in, as if they were looking for something. Or someone. They glanced around the room until their eyes rested on Gaara, and relieved expressions took hold of their faces.

The blonde of the two sighed and shot the brunet a grin. "Finally found him!"

Gaara blinked and asked, "Temari? Kankurou? What are you two doing here?" The man in purple colored face paint crossed his arms, and shot the dirty blonde a nervous look, who returned the look with equal uneasiness. "Temari? Kankurou? I'd like an answer."

His sister shuffled anxiously in place, all signs of playfulness gone from her face. "Gaara…I don't like being the bearer of bad news but… um, it's tou-san… he's dead." Sakura winced, watching the vermillion haired Seeker with a miserable expression. _First Masao, now his own father? Poor guy!_ His expression didn't change at all, and everyone watched him with sympathy on their features.

He replied coldly, "What difference does that make to me? I hated him, and you know it." Ino watched him in apprehension, her red rimmed eyes wide with shock. _How could someone… hate their own father?_ Temari walked over to him and whispered something in his ear, causing his eyes to widen momentarily before returning back to the normally stoic façade. "Orochimaru, hm?" Kakashi gave him a sharp glance and clenched his fist, watching the Suna Siblings in shock.

"Orochimaru?" he asked, his only visible eye wide. Sighing, he stood up and ran a hand through his silver hair, obviously exasperated. "If Orochimaru has started assassinating the kages, that means I might have to…" He shook his head again, and exited the room distractedly, mumbling vaguely under his breath. The eleven Seekers watched him go, confused, and turned to look at Temari.

Who, in turn, glanced around with a strange expression. "Hey Gaara?" she inquired, glancing at her brother. "Where's Masao-kun? Didn't she come with you on this excursion?" He grimaced and became very still, watching the floor with an aloof expression. She furrowed her brow and glanced to the Fire Country ANBU, who looked reluctant to disclose information. Hinata opened her mouth to say, but as she did Gaara left the room and slammed the door shut behind him. Kankurou stared at him in shock, curious as to what could have changed his baby brother's disposition so much.

"She w-was K-KIA…" the blue haired Hyuuga divulged hesitantly, pressing her forefingers together. The siblings looked astonished, and glanced at each other for a moment before turning back to Hinata. "A l-little over… two w-weeks ago. _She fulfilled h-her contract_, that's all G-Gaara-san would say about h-her…" The siblings watched Hinata in shock, speechless. Masao… she was killed?

Temari demanded, "You couldn't do anything to save her?" Hinata felt tears fill her eyes, guilt seeping through her.

Naruto yelled angrily, "Don't blame her! She wasn't even there, dammit!" Temari narrowed her eyes at him but Kankurou grabbed her arm, making her stop. She clenched her fist to her side to prevent herself from doing anything rash. Naruto patted Hinata's shoulder to try and calm her down, and glared at the blonde girl. "Masao died protecting Gaara. How is that in anyway Hinata-chan's fault!"

Sakura asked, "Temari-san was it?" She nodded stiffly, and Sasuke glanced to the pink haired girl. "May we ask for your assistance in protecting our families as we take them into hiding from the Akatsuki as well as the Oto Coven?" The two siblings glanced at each other and back to Sakura, uncertain.

Gaara suddenly reentered the room, his cheeks looking slightly red. He turned to his siblings, "Help them out with this, Temari, Kankurou. I have business to attend to back home." A few people glanced at him and his siblings looking appalled.

"Are you serious Gaara?" Kankurou argued. "You're a political figure now that dad's gone! You're the new Kazekage!" Everyone glanced at Gaara in shock, but the redhead sans eyebrows made no move. His face was impassive as he scanned those of his colleagues.

Sakura spoke up, standing from her position in Sasuke's lap, "Gaara-san, if you would like, I'll come with you for protection during the journey to the Sand…" He looked mildly surprised with her offer, and a couple moments later Naruto and Sasuke stood up as well.

"Me too, dattebayo," Naruto added, a deathly serious expression on his face. Sasuke nodded his agreement, and Temari and Kankurou glanced from them to each other, obviously surprised. They didn't think that the ANBU here would want to get themselves involved with foreign affairs, but they truthfully wanted to help. _'I would never abandon you Gaara-sama. Ever. You mean more to me than anything in this world.'_ Masao's words came back to him and he felt his heart skip a beat, as if she was right there, saying it to him. He shut his eyes for a moment, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. These people cared for him in the same way that Masao had before she died. He glanced up at them with glassy sea-green eyes, startling his brother and sister with the emotion they could portray when he wasn't being stoic.

Masao had always told him his best feature was his beautiful eyes, besides his attractive red hair of course, and now he realized why. She may be gone, but her words and her memories would always be with him, something he would never forget not matter what he went through or what happened. It was something he could pull strength from when he was feeling weak. He met the eyes of all three of the Fire Country ANBU that agreed to help him. And he whispered, in a voice that truly portrayed his feelings, "Thank you." In a way, he wasn't only thanking them, but the young woman who had left him behind as well. Temari reluctantly put a hand on her little brother's shoulder and smiled at him. He gave her a nod of appreciation and continued, "We'll leave tomorrow then. Collect your things and be ready to depart first thing in the morning."

Naruto cheered and flew from the room to get ready and Sakura glanced up at Sasuke, and she wore a smile. His onyx eyes met hers, and he slung his arm over her shoulders in an affectionate manner, hugging her to his side. She told him, "I'm glad you'll be coming with Sasuke-kun, and Naruto too, otherwise things might be kinda boring there."

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, unnoticed by the rest of the occupants of the room. She blushed and glanced up at him, a question in her eyes, and he had a very serious look on his face. "I would never allow you to do something this dangerous alone." With that he left her side with a wave, and Sakura felt her heart pound in her chest at the sight of his face smiling at her; only for her. Why did she fell that way though? She shook her head, trying to clear the hearts from her eyes, and glanced around. She blinked, realizing that while she was daydreaming the room had emptied. Sighing, she ran out after her friends, preparing to get ready to leave for Suna.

…**:oOo:…**

"Have the preparations for the **new** Kazekage been set?" a sly voice questioned, almost his entire body covered in the shadow of the room. Through the darkness however, two amber eyes with catlike pupils glowed with inhuman illumination. Kneeling down respectively before him was a silver-haired man with large, round glasses and onyx eyes with specks of amber in them. It seems even after being changed to a vampire hadn't affected him as much as it would most people.

He replied in a soft voice, "Yes Orochimaru-sama, the plan is set for his arrival in Suna." Laughter emanated from around the room. Excited laughter, eager laughter, the laughter of hundred of vampires waiting to get their fill of blood. "But I have learned that a few of the ANBU from Konoha have decided to accompany him home. Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and, I believe you'll find this interesting Orochimaru-sama, Uchiha Sasuke."

The man sat in a thoughtful position and smiled. Now, on this type of person a smile usually meant something terrible or catastrophic for one or more people. And in this case, that was true. The man commented, "Sasuke, hm? What news do you have on his little plan as of late, Kabuto?" The silver haired man pulled out a small member pad and flipped through the first couple of pages.

He read, "I have observed that Sakura and Naruto are playing a crucial role in Sasuke's revenge. As in, convincing him not to. Especially the girl. If I had a guess, I'd suspect he's fallen in love with her." Suddenly, Orochimaru let out a cackle, something that was frightening to hear by people who weren't used to it. It was something slippery, almost like a snake, and it made an almost maniacal grin crack across Kabuto's face.

Orochimaru told the boy, "Kabuto, I expect you know exactly what needs to be done, yes?" He nodded, not looking very pleased at all with the goings-on. "We need Sasuke for our little… project. I'll send Tayuya and her subordinates to accompany you. Don't kill any of them, just… scare them a bit, eh, Kabuto? Oh, and give Sasuke a little message for me will you?" He held out a small envelope to the man and he took it, putting away in his trench coat pocket. He turned to leave with a magenta haired vampire following behind him. His eyes were narrowed in a frighteningly demonic fashion, like he would very much like to kill the very next thing he saw. And Kabuto just hoped he saw Uchiha Sasuke next.

Orochimaru watched him leave, and soon he was alone in the chamber, a strange thought on his mind. "I wonder," he thought aloud in amusement, his cat-like eyes not leaving the door through which Kabuto left. "What's he planning on doing now?" The man stood up and let his long cloak sweep the ground as he walked out, blowing out the candles around the room as he exited, leaving the space in pitch blackness.


	10. Revelations

**A/N**: I haven't updated in forever, huh? Sorry for the wait, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 9: Revelations

Sakura stepped out of the airplane and into the airport, looking around at the people of Suna. Most of them were quite tan, which made sense because they lived in a desert, and she was stunned by how pale Gaara and his siblings were in comparison. Sasuke and Naruto stepped off after her, and then Gaara, who was greeted by a mass of people calling, "Kazekage-sama!" Photos were shot and the red haired man narrowed his eyes very slightly, pushing past all of the people to get out of the airport.

"Goddammit!" Naruto cursed, hopping along on one leg since someone squished his foot. Sakura laughed at him and patted his shoulder kindly. Following behind Gaara, Naruto, and Sakura with a stoic look on his face, Sasuke glanced around the village with interest. Friendly relations with Sunagakure made this trip possible, and as long he, Sakura, and Naruto were there to protect Gaara, they could stay for absolute free. Gaara held a great amount of dignity, making even the paparazzi stop taking pictures of the redhead. He led them towards the middle of the crowded town, and the pink haired girl grabbed onto Sasuke's arm.

The Uchiha glanced down at her as she linked arms with him, and she asked, "Wow, isn't this amazing Sasuke-kun?" He nodded in agreement and the four of them headed towards the building where the Kazekage lived, getting weird expressions from the civilians at their strange woodland apparel. The villagers wore things suited to the hot weather, and the three foreigners donned outfits suited to their climate of temperate weather.

Trailing into the building after the Kazekage, a couple of the attendants inside watched his body guards in awe, the women not able to keep their eyes off Sasuke, and Sakura frowned. She took his hand gently, not interlacing their fingers, but merely holding it in a friendly way, and grinned at him. He blinked and glanced down at her, then looked back up, continuing on behind Naruto and Gaara. That motion surprised Sakura, thinking that he would let go and give her a disapproving look. But then she smiled softly, squeezing his fingers gently. "So, Gaara-san," she started as they entered his office and took their seats on the leather sofa on the side of the room. "Where will we be staying?"

He turned back to her and replied, "You will each have your own rooms. Sasuke will have Kankurou's and you will have Temari's, and Naruto can have my father's old room." They nodded and Naruto looked slightly unnerved. Gaara, noting this expression, assured him, "There's nothing to worry about. The room has been totally refurnished and ready for an actual human to live there." Naruto grinned and thanked him, looping his arm around Sasuke's neck and leading him down the hallway. "Sakura?"

"Hai, Gaara-san?" she asked, looking back at the red-haired boy with a smile.

He told her, "Temari wanted me to tell you you're welcome to her clothes and make-up, if you wish. Just don't touch her journal." She smiled and, hugging him, bid him good night as she turned to follow her teammates down the hallway to their rooms. Turning the corner, she saw that Naruto had already entered the late, ex-Kazekage's room, and Sasuke was standing before his, his eyes set down the hall as if waiting for her. She walked up to him shyly, her hands intertwined in front of her. As she reached for the doorknob, his voice stopped her.

"Sakura." She glanced up, and he was before her, so close that she could feel his breath on her skin. A blush appeared on her cheeks, and he ran the back of his hand down the side of her face, his nose barely brushing hers as he told her, "Have a good sleep." Then he was gone, into his room and closing the door. She blinked and put a hand on the spot he touched, a silly smile on her face as she entered Temari's room. It was what was expected of Gaara's eldest sibling, red sheets on a canopy bed, with pictures of her family and friends on the walls, and Sakura noted with slight surprise, one of her with sake red cheeks kissing an equally drunk Shikamaru, who looked like he was about to fall over at any second.

"Wow, Shikamaru," she thought with a chuckle, dropping her bag to the ground and unzipping it. She pulled on a pair of short-shorts and a tube top to sleep with in this hot weather, and crawled into Temari's bed, under the thin blankets. The pillow was fluffy and soft, seemingly brand new. Sakura, tired, closed her eyes and slid to sleep.

_"Sakura-chan, you're always so slow," a kind voice joked, mussing the hair of a tiny, rose-haired six-year-old. She quickened her pace to keep up with the brown haired teen, clutching onto his hand. A couple of his friends laughed nearby, picking up the pink haired girl affectionately. _

_The blonde, a teen girl, replied, "Don't worry Sakura-chan, Kohaku-kun's just jealous because you got the looks in the family." Kohaku started to protest but Sakura's giggles cut him off, making him laugh heartily with his other friends. The little girl clutched the girl's shirt, a huge smile on her face as they wandered down the dusk colored streets, Kohaku lugging a large bag of groceries home. Sakura had begged to go with her nii-san, and her mother had reluctantly agreed, on the requirement that Kohaku kept a strict eye on her. _

_"Nii-san," Sakura said quietly to her brother. The emerald eyed boy glanced back at his younger sister, and she smiled at him. "Thanks for letting me come with you!" He chuckled and his blonde friend put the little girl down, asking her to pick her some flowers. Sakura agreed, running off to the field nearby. The three friends took a break on a bench as the sun set, the soft glow of the street lights shining brightly on the street. Sakura sat in the flowers, looking around at the different colors, trying to decide what to get for her nii-san's girlfriend. _

_After assembling a beautiful bouquet, she ran over to the three, but just as she got there, Kohaku leapt to his feet, glancing around with narrowed eyes. "Kohaku-kun, what's wrong?" the blonde asking, jumping up with the other three. He pulled a gun from his holster, and the other two followed suit, looking around for any sign of trouble. _

_"Chihiro-san, Kohaku-nisan, what's going on?" she asked, but they didn't answer, her brother nodding at one of his friends. The black haired boy nodded and scooped up Sakura, but she yelled, "Nii-san, I don't wanna go! I wanna stay with you!" He glanced at her for a nanosecond, but a loud cackle sounded and he fired a shot at a creature flying towards him. _

_He called to his friend, "Yoshimi, get her out of here, now!" Yoshimi's expression suddenly turned blank, and he toppled over, dropping Sakura to the ground. Kohaku's expression became afraid as he watched whatever had just killed his best friend. The little girl stayed very still, and Chihiro shot at whatever was there. Sakura watched in terror as Chihiro was struck down, trying to protect the tiny girl, and Kohaku was killed doing the same thing. She glanced at him, her entire body shaking with terror as she watched the crimson blood soak through their clothes and to the grass. Looking up, a pair of bright amber eyes met hers, and she let out a scream._

Sakura awoke hearing an appalling sound, and she realized that she was screaming at the top of her lungs, and she couldn't seem to stop herself. "**NO!!!**" she screamed, clutching the sheets, her body drenched in cold sweat. "Nii-san!! Chihiro-san!! No!!" The door to her room burst open and the figure in the frame walked in to see her crying into her hands, choking sobs that left her chest heaving. "No…" she whimpered, shaking.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered, walking in with Sasuke and Gaara standing at the door. "Is everything all right?' She glanced up and wiped her eyes off, a smile on her lips. He put a hand on her shoulder, looking concerned, and she realized she would have to bullshit her way through this.

"Yeah, I just had a bad dream, that's all," she explained, waving them away. "You can all go back to bed. Sorry for waking you." Gaara left when she said that, and then Naruto a little less willingly, but the smile on her face reassured him. Sasuke watched her for a moment, and then closed the door as he left, shaking his head. _What a liar_. She sneezed, and rubbed her nose, then sighed with depression. That was horrible, something she tried to suppress since that day, eleven years ago. Her brother, Kohaku, and her brother's friends, Chihiro and Yoshimi… had all been killed trying to keep her safe. She ran a hand through her pink locks and sighed, lying back onto her pillow.

She closed her eyes, and a pair of amber eyes reflected in them. They snapped open, and she bit her lip. Now unable to get to sleep, Sakura sat up and walked into Temari's personal bathroom, and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a rustled mess around her head, and she had dark bags under her eyes from the rude awakening. Sighing, she realized that she needed to get some decent sleep before the morning so she could protect Gaara efficiently, and exited her room. Not knowing where her feet were taking her, she headed down the hall, and stopped before the black door that was the aperture to Kankurou's room, hesitating. Would Sasuke shun her away? Or would he let her in?

Turning away, and planning on trying to sleep in her own room, she took one step down the hall. "If you're planning on coming in, do so instead of standing at the door all night." She jumped, and glanced at the wood, then tentatively opened it, glancing in uncertainly. Sasuke was sitting up in his bed, watching the pink haired girl as she walked in and blushed. He was in a pair of black boxers and nothing more, and she gulped, trying to keep her eyes from straying to that perfect body of his.

She asked, staring at the ground in embarrassment, "Sasuke-kun… if you don't mind… may I… may I sleep beside you?" His face didn't change expression as he watched her for a moment, then held his hand up to her. She closed the door behind her and walked towards him. She wrapped her fingers around his fingers, and smiled as he pulled her into his bed beside him. "Thank you."

He told her, "But in the morning, you have to promise me that you'll tell me what scared you so badly." Reluctantly, Sakura nodded, and laid down beside him, feeling very self-conscious about herself. But Sasuke would have none of that, and propped himself right behind her, resting his arm over her waist. She felt so secure with him right behind her, and she melted into the warmth of his arms, falling asleep against him.

**…:oOo:… **

Naruto woke up early the next morning, as per orders, and stretched groggily. Pulling the nightcap from his head, and shuffling out of his room, went over to Sasuke's door and banged on it. "Sasuke-teme! Get up!" He opened the door and saw him lying on his side, his back towards him, and frowned. He glared at the pretty boy for not getting up on time we HE had to, and stormed over. "Oi, Sasu—" He stopped dead in his tracks, and his jaw dropped to the floor. He saw Sakura lying beside him, her bare skin accenting against Sasuke's, and he exploded. "SASUKE-TEME!! WHAT THE HELL WENT ON HERE?!" Naruto yelled causing the two to fall off the bed, Sakura jumping up and watching him with fury, and Sasuke, who landed on his head, glared at him from the ground.

"Naruto!!" she yelled, throwing an abandoned shoe at him. "Get OUT!" He obeyed, knowing he had made one crucial error, considering they were both dressed and furious at him. But Sakura was grateful, and used it as an excuse to get out of there before Sasuke could question her about the dream. He was rubbing his head, and soon realized that he was alone in the room, a confused look on his face. Then he sighed, closing his door to get dressed.

**…:oOo:…**

"I wish for you three to get to know the city better," Gaara told them as they congregated in his office, waiting for orders. "If you want to protect me properly, you need to know Suna as well as Masao did, understand?" They all nodded but Sakura raised her hand. Gaara glanced to her.

"Gaara-san, will you be safe here while we're gone?" she questioned in worry. He nodded and sent them out of the room, preparing to get some paperwork done before that ridiculous meeting about his duties as Kazekage started. He sighed, and glanced out the window, wishing Masao was here to take some of this stress off of his shoulders with her encouraging words and help.

Meanwhile, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura had walked out into the awakening town, looking around. People were getting their newspapers in the driveway, or on their way to work. Most people were still asleep, so the village was quiet and not crowded. The Uchiha glanced back at Sakura, who seemed quieter than normal, and her eyes were sad and downcast. Something was definitely on her mind. Naruto, who was oblivious to everything and anything, asked loudly, "I wonder if there's a ramen shop around?!"

They were there all day, memorizing the layout of the town and where possible escape routes were, but they wouldn't be able to finish that first day. Sakura sighed and glanced around, accidentally wandering off from the main street away from Naruto and Sasuke. The two of them didn't notice, too busy taking in the arrangement of the foreign city as the Kazekage had asked them to. The pink haired girl strolled down the street, and soon found herself stranded in a deserted parking structure. She furrowed her cherry eyebrows, and looked around in alarm, startled to find herself in rather unusual territory, and part of the village they hadn't explored yet.

"Naruto? Sasuke-kun?" she called, putting her hand to her mouth to amplify the noise. "Naruto!! Sasuke-kun!!" All she heard was her voice reverberating off the concrete walls of the empty lot, and she felt very afraid. She was out here alone, in the dark with **none** of her weapons, completely vulnerable. A loud noise sounded behind her and she picked a broken beer bottle off of the ground to use as a weapon, holding it as she would a knife. The noise creaked above her and she glanced up, but as soon as she thought she saw something it was gone. "Who's there?!" she demanded, taking a step back into a defensive position.

A voice questioned, "What are you doing out here by yourself you little bitch?" It was a girl's voice, rather husky but still feminine. Someone jumped down before her with a smirk on her face. She had long magenta colored hair and wine colored eyes, making her look distinctly human. But there was no doubt in Sakura's mind what she was. She had been doing this job for to long to not know. This newly arrived girl was a vampire. "So you're Sakura, eh, you little whore?" She clenched her fist, the hand holding the beer bottle shaking very slightly.

"Tell me how you know my name!" she ordered, her voice cracking with fear near the end. Sakura gave herself a mental shake. _You're braver than this! Don't be such a chicken! _She pulled up a stance with the glass, a determined look on her face. "Now, vampire!"

The magenta haired vampire laughed, obviously humored, and sneered, "Why the hell should I do that?" The Seeker started forward, but before she could actually take the step the vampire girl was gone. The sound of glass against the pavement broke through Sakura's shock when she realized that the girl had twisted her arms around behind her back, and was preventing her from moving. "My name's not **vampire** bitch, it's Tayuya! I should break your scrawny little neck for that!"

Another voice chuckled, causing the pink haired captive to look around to the best of her ability to try and find whoever it was. "Now, now Tayuya, nothing too rash. Remember Orochimaru-sama's orders." Tayuya growled and let Sakura fall to the ground, gasping for air. She glanced up to see a handsome young man squatting in front of her, with silver hair and black eyes, slightly tinted by the vampiric ocher. "So you're Haruno Sakura then? It's a pleasure to meet you." The girl narrowed her emerald eyes to a dangerously slim level, one that would normally have had Naruto running for a new pair of pants. This man merely smiled at her attempt at frightening, and continued, "I know you're associated with Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura-san, and I wish for you to deliver a message for me, hm?"

She snorted. "Why the hell should I do that?" Tayuya made an angry noise at the mimicking of her words, but the man held a hand up to her, making her stop in her tracks. The silver haired man gave a compromising smile to Sakura and she watched him skeptically, fully prepared to bite, scratch, kick, and head butt her way out of the situation. He stood up and made a short whistle, and, glancing around, the ANBU noticed the numerous amber eyes that appeared in the area.

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat, and the fear took its grip on her. Her eyes grew unfocused, and her breathing turned to hyperventilation. She had been in something like this, so long ago… so… long ago… The memory came back to her with full force, and the loss of her older brother and his friends, struck her so hard that her heart nearly burst. Like the dream she had last night, that made her wake up in cold sweat, and entreat Sasuke for his comfort. Which, surprisingly, he willingly gave. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Sakrua gulped and replied nervously, "You make your point clear enough."

"Good," he replied, handing a thin envelope to the pink haired girl.

Before the Haruno took it, Tayuya questioned, "How do you know she won't tear that up as soon as we leave, Kabuto-san?" He chuckled and held the letter up for her to see.

"I know she won't, because if she did, we'd have to kill her little brother Shiro," he replied with a smile, and her face paled to almost pure white. She clenched her fists tightly and he held out the letter for her to take. She put her fingers around it with both shaking hands, and stared at it with sad features. Was this the choice she had to make? Between Sasuke, the man she was… becoming more than friends with, or her little brother, Shiro? She bit her lip and sighed, putting the envelope inside of her purse. "Good, I knew you'd see reason, Sakura-san."

Sakura tried to get up, but when she shifted her hand to hold her weight, she cut up a good portion of her hand on the glass beer bottle that had broken when Tayuya manhandled her, causing blood to leak from her hand dreadfully. She let out a whimper of pain, but as soon as she heard a growl she knew she was in trouble. Her hand was bleeding… while she was surrounded by bloodthirsty vampires. They flew from the shadows and surrounded herself, Tayuya and Kabuto, who also smelled the scent of her blood. She let out a scream as they began to close in on her, but a voice roared, "Get the fuck away from her!" Glancing up a bright flashlight shone on her, causing the vampires, save the silver haired one and the magenta haired one, to back away shrieking. A sword came down heavily, with Kabuto barely managing to dodge it. "Come on Sakura!"

Sasuke stood before her, like a knight in shining armor, his hand held out for her to take. She nodded, wrapping her bloody fingers around his own, and they rose into the air via a rope and pulley. He pulled her up to his chest, hugging her tightly with the arm that wasn't holding onto the cord. "Sasuke-kun, thank goodness," she whispered as they landed on the helicopter piloted by a seemingly experienced Naruto. He flew off, away from the scene and Sakura collapsed to the floor of the copter, shaking.

"Sakura," he said, his tone deathly serious. She winced and glanced up at his burning eyes, only seeing that look when he was insanely livid, and she knew she was in severe trouble now. He knelt down by her, his expression still fiery, and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Never… ever do that again. Never, you scared me to death." She felt tears fill her eyes at the sentence, and she hugged him back, the warmth of the blood from her hand dripping down his back and soaking through his clothing. He pulled back and watched her with expressive eyes, and she absently leaned in closer to him, his onyx orbs nearly hypnotizing her. "Promise me," he whispered, his breath tickling her skin.

"I promise," she replied, watching his eyes. She was surprised to see such strong emotions in his eyes. But why? As far as she knew, he had never had such soft eyes. She brushed her fingers lightly against his cheek, giving him a gentle smile. He blinked slightly but said nothing, simply observing the pink haired girl with surveying eyes. Sakura pressed her head to his chest in what was meant to be a quick hug, but Sasuke held her to him. "Sasuke-kun?"

He glanced down at her with a smile. "I'm glad you're safe Sakura." She grinned and he let her go, but not before pressing a kiss to her temple. She blushed, and she pulled away, giving him a coy smile as she entered the cockpit of the helicopter. Naruto sat there, sweat beading down his face as he looked at the controls frantically.

"Oi, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme?" he asked nervously. Sakura and Sasuke shot sideways glances at each other, noting his nervous expression and arched their eye brows at the same time. "Heh, do either of you know how to land this thing?"

**A/N**: Sorry for the abrupt ending, but I had to skip a bunch of things to the next chapter to make more sense. Also, anyone looking for some Kakashi awesomeness, you won't be disappointed in the near future, the next coming chapters. I'm introducing some new characters in, as per requested by some people who PM'd me. Lee is gonna be back and stuff, so Lee fans rejoice!


	11. Forgiveness in Love

**A/N**: This chapter's a little Sasuke-centric, just about how he feels about what's been going on in his life. After the Shikamaru and Kakashi thing, of course. Kakashi's all action-y for those he wanted to see him kick some ass.

Chapter 10: Forgiveness in Love

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying not to fall asleep at the keyboard. He had found fourteen signatures that had touched his computer that didn't check out, and he had been up all night trying to find out who they were. Half of them were home computers going to the wrong place, three were his own computers that he hadn't recognized the print of at first, and three more were government investigation satellites. The last one, however, was encrypted, though some probing made it obvious it was someone in Konoha. _Gotta dig a little deeper_, he thought to himself, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

_PASSWORD, huh? Five character password, letter or numbers…_ He typed in a few common code words, which obviously didn't work, as he knew they wouldn't. Then he picked out numbers, starting with 11111, and working his way through all of the possible combinations. _Hm, nothing_. Lazy as he was, Shikamaru did have a very long rope that was difficult to get to the end of. He smirked. No encryption was too tricky for him to hack, and so he continued, using a series of letters, starting with AAAAA, but after that gave him no result, he wracked his brain for another combination. He glanced at the clock and saw it was four in the morning, and yawned.

_Okay, okay, let's try the Full House Method._ He put 11AAA in the box, and went from there, and when that harbored no results tried the opposite and inverse of that: AAA11, 111AA, and AA111. The computer wouldn't give, but he was far from done. Another hour passes, and then another, and as Shikamaru was about to finish and get some sleep, the computer beeped. " AKTI8: Password Accepted." That woke him up better than any caffeine pill, and he sat up straighter in his chair. _Sweet, I have access to this guy's computer now_, he though smugly, knowing that he had outsmarted yet another electrical device.

Now onto the computer's system, he sifted through the any items that might be suspicious. _Nothing…_ He slumped back into his chair. He had exhausted all of the codes he had picked up, and for what? He reached for the monitor button, but just as he was about to press it, something caught his eye. Narrowing said feature, he read aloud, "LX-375 Government Issue Explosives, hm?" Wheeling his chair so another desk in his room, he examined the pieces he was able to take from Ino's house and examined them closely. He narrowed his eyes. "I knew it!"

On the metal the same insignia was engraved, and this person was the one who bought them. They also killed Ino's parents… and tried to kill her. A few more clicks brought up a document with all of the seekers names on it, and people set next to them. He narrowed his eyes. _Sasori and Deidara with Ino's and mine, and the names Hidan and Kakuzu with Sasuke and Sakura's, Zetsu with Neji and Tenten, and Kisame and…_ His eyes widened. _Kisame and _Uchiha Itachi_ Naruto and Hinata_. Uchiha Itachi? "Dammit! I gotta tell Kakashi-san!"

An unfamiliar voice questioned, his voice sleek and smooth as velvet, "Really?" Grunting, he turned to the side and saw a black haired man watching him impassively, his red colored eyes piercing into his own, making Shikamaru freeze in his seat. He was still for a long moment, and then fell backwards off of his chair, wanting to get away as soon as possible. He flew out the door, urging his legs to go faster, and slid on the tiles as he turned the corner, bracing his hands against the wall to prevent himself from smacking his forehead against the divider. _Almost there!!_

Suddenly he was sent flying down the hall, pain searing from his back as multiple things embedded themselves there. "Kakashi-san," he yelled at the top of his lungs, knowing that he was mere feet from the man's door, and the silver haired man must have heard him. "Fuck, Kakashi!" Still his door didn't open, and Shikamaru felt completely helpless as the black haired vampire walked slowly towards his prone form, unable to do anything to protect himself. Suddenly Itachi turned around and caught a throwing knife that had been heading for his body, and glanced around for the owner.

Suddenly the crimson-eyed man ducked, his eyes narrowed, as someone tried to kick him in the chest. He was forced backwards as he avoided more punches from a silver haired force. Kakashi flipped forward on his left hand and attempted to trip up the Uchiha, but the vampire merely avoided the attack. But the Seeker wasn't trying to hurt him, just get him away from the injured Shikamaru, and he knelt by the brunet. "Shikamaru?" he questioned, pulling the four knives from his back and tossing them aside. "I need you to go call Sasuke and Naruto, tell them the situation. On second thought, there's a list of people in my office, just call them all and explain what's going on."

"Right," he said groggily, the blood loss affecting him more than he would have liked. He ran off in Kakashi's room as the man with the eye patch turned to hold off the vampire. He tore the list down from the wall and picked up the phone, and began to call the people on the list.

…**:oOo:…**

Sasuke took a deep swig of the water he had poured himself, wiping his forehead of the sweat that had accumulated there. _I don't think I've ever been that worried in my life, about anything_, he mused, rubbing his temples in a way to soothe his headache. He glanced down at the blood on his hands, _Sakura's_ blood, which he hadn't wiped off yet. He clenched his fist. The crimson stain on his skin made him realize just how dangerous this job was, and just how easily he could lose Sakura because of it. He narrowed his eyes to a dangerously slim level. _I will _never _let _anything_ happen to her_, he vowed, clutching his glass tightly.

It was hard to believe that only a few months ago he hated her guts. He couldn't get away from her fast enough for his liking, the newbie, pink haired girl an annoyance to his every day living. She was too good, too talented, and he was selfish, and didn't want her to steal his limelight. He hated her for showing him up, for making him feel second best to a **girl**. Now, he felt shameful, even more than he had before because of Hinata and Tenten getting hurt, and clenched his glass harder.

But that's all different now. He knew that he had to work with all his teammates to be able to get this job done, and he knew that they all cared about him, and he them. Especially Sakura. His feelings for her were fuzzy and hard to discern at the moment, but he knew they were deep and true. She meant the whole world to him, and he would do anything to see her smile.

It had been the worse feeling in his life to hear her scream in her room last night. She sounded so afraid, like she was in deep trouble, and he had felt his heart dip into his shoes at the sound of it. The worst scenario had flickered into his mind, the vampires had found her, she was getting maimed and killed. It had taken every ounce of his self control not to go in there, sword in hand, and kill anything, or anyone that scared her. It was just a dream she said, but he knew better. It was a nightmare, a terrible, pillow gripping nightmare. Sakura was strong, and something small wouldn't upset her like that.

Sasuke was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he missed a pair of feet coming down the stairs to the kitchen, and his cup finally gave way under the intense pressure he was inflicting on the glass, and shattered in his grip. He winced as the shards dug into his hand, his own blood dripping out to join Sakura's on his skin. "Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" He turned around and saw the subject of his thoughts standing in the doorway, biting her lip in concern. Her emerald eyes caught the blood on his hands and she sighed, pulling a small medicine kit from the pouch attached to the back of her shorts. "Here, I'll fix that for you."

She sat down in the chair next to his and took his hand, examining the cut closely. She opened the kit and pulled out a pair of tweezers, and began to take out the glass pieces embedded in his skin. Sasuke watched her work, her soft hands leaving a tingling sensation wherever they brushed his skin. She took a roll of gauze from her bag and, after cleansing the wound thoroughly, she wrapped it up with the greatest care, treating his hand gently. As she began to pull her hand away, he gripped it tightly in his, not letting her leave. "Hold on Sakura," he said as she gave him a curious look, wondering why he was holding her back. "You still have yet to keep your promise."

"Promise?" she questioned in confusion, but after watching him for a moment, she remembered and sighed. "I know I promised… but it's something… I'd rather not talk about." He gave her a hard look and still refused to let her go.

He stated coldly, "You don't trust me." The concept hurt, but it was the only possible answer he could come up with.

She replied in frustration, trying fruitlessly to get her hand away from his without aggravating the wound he inflicted, "It's not that Sasuke-kun. I trust you with all my heart, truly I do. It's just… hard, I guess, to talk about it." _Because it would mean completely opening up to someone_, she thought to herself, watching the Uchiha through guarded eyes.

"Please Sakura," he whispered, letting her hand go and taking her face in his hands. She felt tears well up in her eyes, and bit the corner of her mouth, trying to stop herself from blurting out what she had kept from everyone, even Ino, all these years. "Trust me Sakura, I beg you. I just want to help you." Her defenses were falling at the sight of those enigmatic black eyes, the ones belonging to the man who had, months ago, confided in her his dark secret. Revenge. This dark angel wanted to help her so bad, she could tell by the tone of his voice, the feel of his hands on her face, and the look in his endless orbs.

Her tears spilled over and he looked alarmed, but she put a hand to his mouth, making him stop. "Thank you." Her voice cracked, but she didn't care, it got the message across to him, and she shot him a tiny smile. She stood up and he followed her to the living room, where the two of them sat on the leather sofa next to the window in the wall. Sakura leaned against his shoulder, and he interlaced their fingers comfortably, making her smile. "My dream then, Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah."

"It was an actual occurrence, something than happened when I was five years old. My brother, his friends, and I went out for some groceries, and because I loved my older brother so much I wanted to go with him so badly. My mother agreed only because she knew my brother could take good care of me, and we went." He heard her pause, trying to get her thoughts together, and felt her squeeze her injured hand in his, making them both wince. "Well, she was right," she breathed, her voice full of tears. "On the way home, while I was picking flowers for my brother's girlfriend, they were attacked by an angry coven of vampires, who knew that the three of them were Seekers for another organization." She sniffed. "A-and… while trying to protect me… they were all… all…" A hysteric sob broke out in her chest, but he didn't need her to go on, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Sakura…" Sasuke took his hand from hers and wrapped it around her shoulders, holding her in a protective embrace, wanting to protect her from the ghosts of her nightmares. "It's okay, I'm right here, it's okay," he assured her in a soft voice over and over, trying to calm her shaking, sobbing form.

She told him, her voice shaky, "It's all my fault they were killed. If I hadn't insisted on going with none of it would have happened, they would all be okay. They wouldn't have had to worry about protecting me!!"

Suddenly, the boy looked disappointed and angry with her and pulled her back, giving her a glare. "Sakura, shut up," he ordered furiously, his hands shaking madly on her arms. Her eyes widened in shock, watching him with apprehension. "Just shut up. Do you have any idea what the hell you're talking about?! You're brother risked his life to save you **willingly**, do you understand? He loved you, and so did his friends, they wanted to keep you alive! You had to stay alive!!" Her tears stopped flowing when she realized that Sasuke looked regretful, and… and sad. "I would have given anything for the power to save my family, believe me. But I couldn't… I could just sit there and watch. Your brother refused to do that, and I'm glad he did."

"What?" she asked, her mind not comprehending what he was saying.

His eyes were passionate, unbelievably passionate, and it made her wonder if this was the same Uchiha Sasuke that she had known since she had started work here. "I'm glad he did, because I never would have met you." Sakura felt tears spring into her eyes as he said it, her bottom lip trembling. _He must be lying_, she insisted to herself, trying to keep herself from believing those too sweet words that came from his mouth. He hugged her gently, and she burst into tears once more, though this time from happiness rather than sorrow.

She questioned, her voice still disbelieving, "Truly, Sasuke-kun? Truly?" She would have to hear it from his own mouth to really believe it, otherwise it seemed like a harsh lie, only there satiate her for a moment before her heart was torn from her chest again and thrown into the gutter, broken and hurt forevermore.

He smiled. It wasn't a smirk or a grin that one usually saw on his face. It was a true, heartwarming, loving, gentle smile. "Truly," he replied, as his lips met hers. It was for a split second, only for a second, and he felt something warmer than blood flow through his heart, making the muscle pound erratically in his chest. They stood up, Sasuke taking the incentive and deepening the kiss, making Sakura pull his face nearer. "Sasuke-kun," she whispered against his lips, and he put his hands on the sides of her face, holding her closer. But before things could progress farther, Naruto burst into the living room, causing them to jump backwards in shock.

"Sasuke!" he called with a dangerously serious look on his face. The Uchiha glanced up at Naruto, knowing something had to be wrong if he didn't call him 'teme'. "I got a call from Shikamaru. Uchiha Itachi is in Konoha!" His eyes widened in shock, and, for a moment, he was silent. Then they narrowed and a smirk adorned his lips, the expression on his face making Sakura feel anxious.

He questioned in a deep voice that wasn't quite his own, "When do we leave?"

**A/N**: Sorry it's such a short chapter. But I really didn't know what to write after that. The little purple "Go" button is your friend, remember.


	12. Uchiha Itachi

**A/N**: Please don't kill me, but here it is, finally updated! hides in Ryuichi bunny costume to escape scary mobbers

Chapter 11: Uchiha Itachi

Loud noises indicating gunfire went off inside of the Konoha ANBU building, though it wasn't wild or rapid. It was careful and precise; deliberate to shooting something exactly the way the person wanted it to be shot. The shooter was an excellent marksman, and the rising difficulty level in the HoloZone was complete evidence to that claim. Hinata took another shot, sending a hole through the head of a holographic version of a vampire. She slid to the side and shot another one without even looking as she continued on, taking down another virtual opponent.

"_Level 9 complete! New high score!_" Ino's voice called over the intercom, cheering loudly. It was completely automated, and Shikamaru had just decided to use the blonde's voice for his voiceovers. The girl was overly chipper almost all of the time, so it made sense. Hinata huffed in exertion and holstered her gun, walking out of the chamber and grabbing a towel on her way out to mop up her damp forehead. She had been training hard ever since Itachi had been spotted, and wanted to be a good partner and strong fighter so she didn't hold Naruto back. Though despite her improvements, her father didn't seem the least bit interested in it at all, and that thought hurt.

She sat on a bench and sighed, drinking from a cold bottle of water. Unexpectedly, her cell phone rang, and a number she knew all too well flashed on her caller ID. "Hello, Father," she answered, curious as to why he wanted to contact her now. Perhaps he wanted her to come home again, to aid with some of the affairs she'd have to take care of in a year or two when she became a more experienced Seeker. Though recently... Hanabi, her younger sister, had been performing those tasks for her, and her father had been training the younger girl the way he used to train Hinata before deeming her a lost cause.

"Hinata, I have some very imperative news to tell you," her father told her with a cold voice, making her wince slightly. She would never get used to the way her father talked to her, she believed. She sat down and pushed a small chunk of blue hair out of her face, listening to the voice on the speaker. "I want you to meet me in two months' time to talk to the Hyuuga elders about your placement as the successor to the Hyuuga family, understand?"

Holding back a sigh, Hinata replied, "Yes, Father." He hung up after, not even bothering with a simple goodbye, and she tucked her cell phone away in her pocket, glacing to the door. It had opened without her even realizing it, and she looked up to see Ino standing in the doorway, a grim expression on her face. Standing up she walked over to her, giving her a tight hug. "How are they?" she asked in a soft voice, biting her lip.

The blonde replied, tucking a stray piece her ponytail had missed behind her ear, "Kakashi-san is pretty messed up, and I don't know what else to do until Sakura gets here to fix him up. As for Shika, he's a little better. I was able to stitch the wounds in his back just fine." Hinata saw the worry in her blue eyes as she mentioned the genius, and she sighed, walking out of the room with her as she headed for the locker room to take a shower. It had been a tough day of practice for her, today. Now with the extra burden of their injuried teammates, her father's planning, and Naruto's long absence, she didn't know how much more she could take on top of that.

Hinata took a deep breath and glanced out the window, her pearl eyes watching the shadows fall outside. They rested to a spot just below the overhang on the building, where the shadows seemed to be darker then everywhere else. She blinked, but it didn't change. Was she imagining things? Before she could think to question it, a pair of headlights pulled up in front of the headquarters, and three very familiar figures leapt from the car. "Naruto-kun!" she cheered happily, her hand against the windowpane.

**...:oOo:...**

Sakura felt uncomfortable the entire way home, shooting glances to the now darker Sasuke. Just the mention of his brother seemed to put the Uchiha in a sour mood, and now the prospect of killing him made him almost capricious with sadistic excitement. It scared her to no end, and made her want to take him away and never let him back. He couldn't be this way, not after all of the change he's gone through, becoming the Sasuke that she was so used to being with. Why did something have to come up, to alter him so much again, back to the way he used to be before she was able to bring the true Sasuke to the surface?

Naruto watched her in concern, wanting to say something to her but feeling unable to. He didn't know what he could say to quell her fears about Sasuke, because he couldn't even think of something to crush his own. All he knew was that Sasuke would try and fight his older brother, and from what he's heard about Itachi, his best friend didn't stand even the slightest chance with him. He clenched his fist and wondered if he'd be able to protect Sakura at a time like that.

When the plane landed the three of them left quickly, Naruto and Sakura jumping in behind Sasuke in the car he had left their the first time around, watching him speed down the street, to ask Kakashi what happened with Itachi and see if Shikamaru was doing all right. They got to the front parking lot and all jumped out of the car, thought ss they approached the building, Sakura felt a chill race down her spine and reach out through her veins, making her stop in her tracks and shudder violently. "Sakura-chan, is everything all right?" Naruto asked worriedly, stopping to glance back at her. Sasuke paused for a moment, watching her nod, and then hurried on, his concern barely fleeting as he entered the building. "What happened?" he questioned when they followed him in.

She glanced up at him and replied, "It felt like... someone was watching us. It was... so cold Naruto, I don't know how to describe it." Sakura shook her head and the three ran up the stairs, nearly knocking Hinata over as she hurried down to meet them. Sasuke glanced to her for a moment.

"Where's Itachi?" he demanded, making her eyes widen in shock at the icy venom in his tone at the mere mention of his older brother's name.

She replied softly, intimidated, "N-Not here, Sasuke..." He ran a hand through his hair and slumped against a wall, aggravated beyond all measure. Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata watched his anger and bitterness deflate slightly, and the Hyuuga girl mentioned to them, "Follow m-me, I'll sh-show you to Kakashi-san and Sh-Shikamaru." Naruto followed and Sakura tugged Sasuke along, giving him a smile as they headed for the infirmary to go see their injured teammates.

Ino greeted them at the door, hugging Sakura firmly as she pointed out Kakashi and Shikamaru. "Oh my god," Sakura breathed, the silver haired man's mutilated body almost too much for her to bear. Quickly she tore from the group and picked up her medical supplies, gloves pulled on and operating on the man faster than they could all blink. Sasuke sat down beside her as she worked, his hand on her shoulder giving her support. Her eyes were glassy, stitching and prodding at the unconscious Kakshi with fervor, knowing that his life rested in her hands now. Blood spilled to the floor, and Naruto had to help Hinata out as her face turned an interesting shade of green. "Don't die," the pink haired girl sobbed repeatedly as she continued. "Please don't die!"

The Uchiha rubbed her back for a moment before standing up and pacing around the room, his feelings clashing inside of him. Ino glanced between the two of them as understanding coated her expression, wanting to mess with Sakura about it, but deciding to do it later. Now would never be a good time for anything like that. After twenty minutes of baited breath and tears, the medic stood up, caked in blood, and collapsed into Sasuke's arms, crying and laughing at the same time. "Sakura?" he asked in surprise, helping her into a chair and kneeling next to her.

"He's going to be okay," she cried, smiling and sobbing and shaking as she hugged the black haired boy around the neck. "He's gonna be okay!!" She kissed him smack on the lips and he smiled slightly, his brother momentarily pushed from his mind as the medic rejoiced. Naruto and Hinata entered a moment later, watching Sakura carry on like a madwoman and smiled, glad that their leader was going to be fine.

"Let's get home guys," Naruto advised, waving his hand and laughing. "I think we've all had a pretty rough day! Plus, I'm about to die from jet lag..." They nodded and made sure the two were comfortable, Ino opting to stay and watch over the patients, as Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura headed outside to go to their respective houses. When they were outside, Sakura felt that shiver again and glanced back at a place where the shadows were darker than they should have been. She froze, her eyes wide and staring at two pinpoints of vermillion standing out in the darkness. Sasuke stopped in his tracks and glanced back to her, sincerely worried this time around.

"Sakura?" he inquired quizzically, furrowing his brow slightly. "What's wrong?"

She turned back to look at him, fear filling her green irises. "Itachi."

The two spots of red vanished with that name and Sasuke blocked Sakura from view as the vampire from the shadows moved out, a black and red cloak adorning him. His companion had sickly skin, almost bluish in color, and small malevolent eyes. "Would you look at that," latter laughed, tapping a large sword on his back. "Just who we were looking for!"

Sasuke tensed and glared at his older brother, though the Uchiha merely ignored him and turned his crimson gaze to the two behind him. Hinata grasped onto Naruto's arm, biting her lip and the boy narrowed his eyes. "Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata, yes I believe you're right Kisame." Shock adorned his features as Sasuke watched his two friends, speechless. His brother... his brother **wasn't** looking for **him**?!

"I don't think so Itachi," the raven haired boy exclaimed, his hand on his sword's hilt and his eyes narrowed. "I'm going to be the one to fight you!"

"Sasuke-kun, don't!" Sakura cried as he rushed at him, pulling the metal blade out of its sheath and swinging it at the vampire. Itachi didn't even seem to notice the murderous boy, simply evading the attack and pulling his own weapon out, heading for the jinchuuriki and his partner. That made the Uchiha furious as he headed from behind, the metal inches from his brother's head, but he was suddenly flung to the side, his sword landing at Sakura's feet. She let out a scream as he crashed into a nearby lamppost, cracking it in half and causing the light to flicker rapidly and die. "Sasuke-kun!" She felt so helpless; Sasuke, the strongest person she knew, was getting beaten within an inch of his life.

Itachi finally turned his attentions to his little brother, walking to the faltering boy as he struggled to get up, his arms shaking under his weight. "I'm going to kill you," he growled, spitting blood out and wiping his face. He flung a punch at his head, quite weaponless and unable to do much of anything else. His fist was caught in Itachi's stark white hand, and he screamed almost inhumanly as something snapped loudly, his wrist now limp as the vampire dropped him to the cement.

"Maybe some other time, foolish little brother," he replied nonchalantly, facing Naruto and Hinata now. "We have more important business to take care of." Kisame nodded in agreement. The blond pushed the Hyuuga girl behind him, preparing to fight but not knowing how well he'd hold up against someone like Uchiha Itachi, who beat Sasuke down so easily and quickly without even trying.

Sakura knelt down by Sasuke, tears in her eyes, as he didn't move after she begged him to wake up. "Don't leave me Sasuke-kun, please!" she cried, shaking him, avoiding his broken wrist. Itachi pulled his sword out, and prepared to take down the two teenagers before him.

"Now, now, now," a voice said sternly, as if berating little children. "Why can't we all just play nice, hm?" Those present glanced towards the tone. Naruto, expecting some sort of magnificent savoir to be standing there prepared to rescue them, felt his jaw drop as he pointed an accusing finger at the man.

He shouted, "It's the pervy Health teacher, Jiraiya-sensei!" Shock filtered across Sakura and Hinata's faces as they watched the white haired man cross his arms and lean against a tree, his face completely and atypically serious now. The two girls glanced at each other for a moment, wondering what on earth was going on. Itachi watched Jiraiya uninterestedly, putting his sword away and glancing to Kisame.

Jiraiya stated, walking past Sakura and Sasuke while cracking his knuckles, "I see! You're not afraid to beat up on kids, but when someone who can kick your ass actually comes around, you decide to retreat. You're quite the playground bully, Itachi."

"They know each other?" Sakura called, watching her friends shrugging, just as confused as she was. The man pulled a large tarp from his back, rolling it out in front of him and pulling a set of large guns from inside, some that none of them have even seen before. Perplexed, they watched as he aimed one at each Kisame and Itachi, his expression completely blasé. _What on earth is going on?!!_ she wanted to ask, but was too afraid to break the silence that had overcome their group.

The elder Uchiha was about to reply with something, but a shaky voice managed to say, "Stop it... this is... **my** fight!" Sakura glanced to her lap only to see Sasuke leaning himself up on his good hand as he watched his older brother, blood trailing down his chin from the corner of his mouth and making small pools around his body as he relocated himself slightly. He shakily pulled himself to his feet, almost falling on multiple occastions but refusing Sakura's help in any way.

"Stop, Sasuke-kun, you're going to get killed!" Sakura whimpered, biting on her thumb and looking up at the back of his head from her seat on the ground, tears in her eyes.

Jiraiya watched silently as he dragged himself forward, managing a slow run as he attempted to hit his brother once more with his good fist, though the man just barely moved to the side, shaking his head. Sasuke tried again, but Itachi just gripped him around the throat and thrust him into a tree, holding him there with his grip tight around his neck. "Foolish brother," Itachi belittled, tossing the younger Uchiha aside and followed his body as it rolled along the stone pathway to the right of the sidewalk. "You don't know when to give up. You're weak, and you'll never be able to defeat me." Sasuke tried to get up once more, but his brother's foot collided with his ribs and he was sent flying farther away, landing on the ground in a heap of blood and pain, and he moved no more. Itachi glanced from Jiraiya to Hinata and Naruto, then nodded at Kisame, knowing that they would have to do this another time. The two of the Akatsuki clan turned on heel and sped off into the night, leaving the four Seekers and their Health teacher to work things out for themselves now. Sakura leapt up and hurried to Sasuke, turning him over and wiping the blood from his chin as her tears drizzled his face.

He looked so pale and helpless, she didn't know what to do about it. She could fix his physical wounds, but this utter defeat would have powerful psychological damage to Sasuke's pride and sense of self in general. He couldn't beat Itachi, he couldn't even scratch him. What would he do from there?

"What the hell are **you** doing here, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto demanded from the man, his arms crossed. Hinata, still in shock, fell straight to her knees as she placed a hand on her heart, glad she got out of that alive, somehow. Naruto awaited an anwer from the man as did Sakura, wondering how he knew Itachi as well as being to get there in the nick of time, miraculously.

The man scratched the back of his head nervously and said, "Let's go back inside, and then we'll discuss all of that, okay?" Curiously, Hinata and Naruto followed their teacher inside as he carried Sasuke in his arms, the pink haired girl watching his face in worry and pain, wondering if he would be okay. Ino glanced up from her magazine in confusion as they entered back into the infirmary, then in shock when she spotted the wounded Sasuke dangling in her Health teacher's grip.

"Put him here," Sakura ordered the white haired man as she got ready to treat him and he obeyed, laying Sasuke on a harshly white medical bed. She set quickly to work, unable to perform any type of surgery right away, just setting his wrist and bandaging any cuts he got from getting thrown into the lightpole and down the pavement. There was silence as she stitched, and she realized that she should be getting used to fixing up her loved ones, seeing them bleeding and broken by now. Yet, to her, she knew she'd never become accustomed, never able to guard her heart against having to feel the pain of watching her friends and family become maimed and brutalized. Though she found some comfort in knowing that she was the one able to put them back together again.

"Now tell us, pervert," Naruto insisted, pounding his fist into the wall, causing Hinata to jump slighlty. "How the hell did you know what was going on? Who Itachi was? Everything!" Ino blinked and then her eyes widened, making the correlation between Sasuke's injuries and Itachi.

He sighed and scratched his cheek, looking off to the side. This was not a conversation he wanted to be having right now. "Kakashi wanted me to keep an eye on you guys if anything happened to him..." Eyes widened and heads were turned in shock, even the blood covered Sakura managed to tear her attention away from Sasuke to stare at the man. "Truth is kids, I'm a blood sucker hunter too, a Seeker, just like you guys. Why do you think I was so relaxed about your stupid homework?"

Naruto's jaw dropped as Hinata let out an "oh" of understanding, though Ino leapt up and accused, "That's not true, you liar! You docked me points on my project even though I was up every night that week being a Seeker!" He blinked and tapped his chin, then nodded; you could almost see the light bulb go off in his head.

"That's because I don't like you Ino!" he told her cheerfully, and she glared at him, punching him in the nose and storming to the other side of the room to see if Sakura needed any help with Sasuke. He mopped up the blood from his nose with a nearby white washcloth and turned to Naruto and Hinata, asking them tiredly, "Any other questions?" They glanced to each other and shook their heads, but then Hinata nodded quickly.

"H-How did you kn-know... Itachi?" Naruto nodded in agreement and Ino and Sakura glanced up at him, curiosity written all over their faces.

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, replying, "That's a story for another day. Why don't you all go to bed, and I might tell ya tomorrow, okay?" Sighing they reluctantly agreed, though Sakura and Ino told them they wree going to stay in the hospital to keep an eye on Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Sasuke. They needed to be watched constantly for any signs of getting better or waking up... or getting worse, though they tried not to linger on the possibility too much.

The night seemed to go quickly for them as they fell asleep, though the next morning Naruto made an infuriating discovery. "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT PERVY TEACHER!!!" he screamed when he saw that he had made off without telling them about Itachi.

...:oOo:...

Sakura sighed and glanced out of the window. It had been three days since Sasuke had fallen unconscious, and though Kakashi and Shikamaru were up and about, he hadn't even shown any signs of waking up yet. She had already performed the surgery on his wrist, and though his bodily injuries seemed to be getting better, he just wouldn't snap out of the coma he was in.

Ino was worried. Sakura hadn't budged an inch since Sasuke had been admitted to the infirmary, and she was probably starving herself! She hadn't eaten, slept, moved or anything, and the blonde didn't know what to do anymore about the problem. She knew she was worried about Sasuke, but he wouldn't get any better by her self-torture this way, it just wasn't healthy. The blue eyed girl sat in the hallway at the headquarters, a stack of homework in her backpack that Lee had dropped off for them since they had been absent for two days, but no incentive to do it. Footsteps headed down towards her, and she glanced up to see Neji and Tenten walking her way, both of them out of breath from running here from school, just being told the news by Shikamaru, who called them on their cell phones.

"I'm so sorry we couldn't be here," Tenten apologized, hugging Ino and running a hand through her bangs, pushing them out of her face. "We had no idea this was going to on, no one called us at all..." Neji nodded and sighed, his white eyes resting on the door to the hospital, wondering if Sasuke was well yet. The girl flopped down next to Ino to catch her breath, taking a bottle of water out of her backpack and chugging it all down as if she was going to die. Neji sat cross-legged across the hall from the two girls, his eyes closed as he rested the back of his head against the wall. "How are they doing?"

She replied, "Sasuke hasn't woken up yet, but Shikamaru and Kakashi-san are doing pretty well."

"And Sakura?"

"Nearly killing herself from the worry and lack of food or sleep..." The three of them let out a heavy sigh, silence encasing them as they waited for something, anything to happen.

Tenten mentioned, almost as if to break the silence and start a conversation, "Jiraiya-sensei had a substitute today, do you think that means anything, Ino?" The blonde shrugged, to tired to even care. It probably did mean something, but right now, all Ino wanted to do was sit here with her friends and bask in the silence. Though her wish was shortly broken when the door slammed open to the infirmary. They all turned their gazes towards the noise and saw Sakura standing there, tears in her eyes and her entire body shaking. They all leapt up, Tenten calling, "What's wrong, Sakura?"

"He's..." she whispered, "he's..." They all waited with baited breath, fearing for the worst. "He's just woken up!" They were all silent for a moment, then the two girls cheered and hugged each other, and Neji let a small smirk spread across his lips, glad that his teammate was all right, even if he didn't like him very much. "You can see him in a moment, I just have to make sure everything's fine first." That was perfectly all right with them, as long as they knew that Sasuke was awake.

Sakura closed the door behind her and smiled back at the black eyed boy as he glanced around alertly, as if trying to find something. "Are you feeling all right, Sasuke-kun? How's your arm?" His eyes rested on her for a moment, the alertness gone as he slumped back into his pillow, his eyes closed again. When he didn't respond she sighed, picking up the glass of water sitting next to him and holding it out for him to drink some of. He must be thirsty, even if he was hooked up to an IV. "Have some of this okay?" she told him, a smile on her face.

He turned to her with a glare and knocked the glass out of her hand, letting it shatter with a loud crash on the tile ground, causing her eyes to widen. "Go away," he told her in a low voice, his good hand clutching the sheets and his face contorted with the pain of failure and humiliation. "Just get away from me." Sakura felt her, but set her face in a determined expression; she was his doctor and she'd be damned if he was going to tell her what to do.

"No thank you, Uchiha," she told him coldly, almost returning back to the days when they hated each other's guts, though they were long gone now, she knew she had to keep him in line as her patient. "I'm the one taking care of you, so you're going to do as I say, understood?"

"Sakura?" she heard Ino call through the door. "I heard a crash, is everything okay?"

She responded, "Yeah, I just dropped something..." Sasuke watched her for a moment before turning his face away, not in the mood for caring right now. Sakura kept her emerald eyed gaze on him, trying to decipher his behavior. "If it's any consolation, Sasuke-kun," she told him quietly, capturing him attention for a moment as she fidgeted with her medical coat. "I thought you were brave..."

He was silent for a moment, and then he replied, "Well, it's not Sakura. Bravery doesn't make me strong! Itachi beat me without even trying. I'm weak, just a pathetic weakling!" She furrowed her brow as he rested his face in his hand, letting a deep sigh shudder through his muscular frame. Sitting before him on the bed, she rested her forehead against his shoulder and shook her head. He watched her move, her punk hair draped delicately over her shoulder and onto his pale blue hospital gown, each strand glimmering in the light of the room.

"That's not true, Sasuke-kun," she told him with a smile he wouldn't see. But he could hear it in her voice, in the way she spoke to him with such kindness and caring about him. "You're so strong, beyond anything that I could ever imagine. You've saved me before... and Itachi **isn't** a scale to base your strength on Sasuke-kun! You're powerful beyond what you think of yourself! In fact," she glanced up to him with a blush, making him slightly confused, "if it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't be here right now, you know?" He sighed and glanced down to their hands where Sakura had placed hers on top if his, squeezing his fingers lightly.

"I..." he started, looking at her for a moment. "I can't be sure Sakura. He beat me so easily." He lifted up his broken wrist and shook his head, letting his hair fall into his face and mask his expression from her, as she tried to see what he was thinking. "Was all I ever worked for... was it all for nothing? Am I just as weak as I was when I was eight years old, when he killed everyone I loved?" Sakura could feel the pain and despair in his voice, making her heart drop down into her shoes.

"No!" she cried, trying to talk some sense into him. "That's not true, not true at all Sasuke-kun! You're not weak, stop saying you are!" He didn't respond, just watched her with those wretched, beautiful onyx eyes of his, making her own feelings twist into hurt and anxiousness.

She didn't know what to do anymore.

She just didn't know.

How could she keep up with him if he wouldn't even talk to her?

...:oOo:...

It had been an entire month since Sasuke left the hospital, and in that time she hadn't even seen him. Where had he gone after he left? Was he at home, or was he somewhere, training to become stronger? Tenten and Naruto told her that he hadn't come to school, and Hinata and Kakashi said he hadn't been to the HQ either. Sakura curled up into a ball on top of her bedsheets, wanting desperately too know. She was so confused with her feelings about Sasuke and for Sasuke, about what to do and what was right. Did either of them deserve this pain? Glancing to the nightstand by her bed, she saw a picture of Sasuke she had taken a few days before they left with Gaara for Suna, and printed out to sit by her bedside. He had been reluctant about the photo, but gave in eventually to her begging. She bit her lip and muttered, "Damn it."

Standing up, she realized she was in her thinner nightgown and the weather outside wasn't exactly warm, but she didn't want to waste any time changing. The cherry haired girl decided to go to Sasuke's house to see if he was there... _Please _God _let him be there. _She pulled on a pair of shoes and grabbed her purse, heading out of her house and into her car. He didn't live far, but she didn't want to walk, it would take too slow. The ignition started up after two tries, and she pulled out of her driveway and headed down the street almost double the legal speed. She didn't care, really. Speeding wasn't new to her, and she'd never gotten caught, so why stop now? It took her less than five minutes to get to his house, and when she did she hopped out of her car and ran up his driveway to his front door. "Uchiha Sasuke!" she called through the wood, beating on it as hard as she could, "I **know** you're in there, and you'd better open up before I tear down this door and beat you with it!" There was no answer, but she continued anyway, pounding and pounding until her fist began to turn red and throb.

"Fuck..." she heard an annoyed voice grumble inside, and she sighed with relief as Sasuke opened the door, standing before her wearing a black pair of shorts and black shirt, looking both exasperated and grateful at the same time. "What do you want Sakura?" he asked with a harsh voice, though he didn't look like he wanted to be quite as mean as he was. Sakura could see it in the way his eyes glanced to the side, almost in shame for being so rude and worrying her so much. It made her smile, because she knew he still cared about her as much as she cared about him. Though she wished, sometimes, that he would open up to her, just a little bit more.

Sakura replied, putting those thoughts from her head so she could just talk to him normally and find out what was going on recently with his abnormal appearance, "I just wanted to see... if you were all right Sasuke-kun. I mean, I haven't seen you in a month! What have you been up to? Why haven't you called me or anything?" The chilly March weather made her shudder in her thing nightgown and he sighed, taking her by the hand and pulling her into the house. She put her purse down on the table that they sat at and smiled at him. He was about to reply, but something caught his eye, making him furrow his brow.

"What's this?" Sasuke asked, reaching into her purse and pulling out an envelope with his name on it, noting it wasn't her handwriting and curious as to why she had it in the first place if it was for him, not her. Sakura stared at it for a moment before she remembered, her mouth agape. That was the message Kabuto had given her, to give to Sasuke! She wanted to tell him no, not to touch that filthy thing, to just throw it away, but her mouth didn't work, and he began to open it, each tear in the flap making her more and more anxious. He pulled the paper inside from the envelope, and his eyes narrowed after a few seconds reading it. He glared up at Sakura. "Why didn't you give me this Sakura?" he demanded, thrusting it in her direction.

"I didn't want you to leave to go to that Orochimaru!" she retorted loudly, shaking her head. "I knew that if I gave it to you now, after you saw Itachi, you would be set on leaving! I don't want you to leave!" He watched her for a moment and then ran a hand through his hair. He took her forcefully by the arm and dragged her to the door, shoving her out, much to her shock.

Sasuke whispered, "Go away Sakura." Her eyes widened as he slammed the door shut and locked it, causing her to once more pound on it, yelling at him to let her in over and over. He ignored her, opening his e-mail account and sending an e-mail as the letter instructed. _When you're ready to come Sasuke, just send an e-mail to the address below. I'll make sure that one of my minions comes to pick you up the moment it arrives. We want you here as much as you know you want to be here, Sasuke. I'll make you strong._ He typed into the message box, "I'm ready," and send it to this Orochimaru figure, knowing that with someone like that training him... he'd be able to defeat Itachi for sure. He ran past the loud knocking of Sakura on the door again, heading up his stairs and to his room. He grabbed a duffle bag from his closet and threw random clothes into it, though when he turned to his dresser something caught his eye.

It was them.

His team.

A photograph of them all, sitting on his dresser, right before his eyes. Himself, Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten, Neji, Naruto, Hinata, Kakashi...

. 

He shook his head and put the frame on its front, not wanting to see it anymore. He was leaving them behind, so it didn't matter anyway, did it... He headed back down his stairs, listening but not hearing the obvious sound of Sakura's presence at his door. "Good... she doesn't need to be here," he mumbled to himself, twisting the doorknob and glancing outside.

A shock of pink hair met his eyes as he spotted the girl sitting on his porch, her back facing him. She head the door and turned around, looking up at him with sorrow in her eyes, obviously seeing exactly what she was going to see when he came back out. "I knew it," she whispered, watching the bag on his shoulder sadly. "You're going to leave... aren't you?" He sighed and, letting her into his house once more and closing the front door, turned to the nightgown-clad girl. He could see the worry in her eyes as he walked over to her shaking frame, leaving a gap between them. "Please don't leave, Sasuke-kun. I need you here, with me..."

He told her, trying to ignore the squirming feeling in his stomach, "Sakura, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I can't kill Itachi yet, I'm not strong enough." She grabbed her shirt where her heart was and glared at the ground miserably, tears dripping down her cheeks. He hugged her tightly and she buried her face in his shoulder as he pleaded quietly, "Don't cry, please." It made him want to do anything he could to make her feel better, to be able to tell her that everything was going to be okay, that she didn't have to worry about a thing or cry her eyes out ever again for his sake. He wanted to do anything to be able to have that happen. Even stay.

"Why," she implored, shaking her head, "why do you have to be trained by Orochimaru? You can get stronger with us, here in Konoha!" He let her go and took a step back, needing to get away from her. If he didn't, he might change his mind and stay there, forget his revenge and everything he worked for to be with the woman standing in front of him. "If you do have to go, take me with you, I can help you out! I'll do anything to stay with you, even if I have to follow you down this crooked path you've chosen. If you can't give up being an avenger, then as leat let me follow along with you." Her voice cracked by the end of it, and her expression was desperate.

He sighed and glanced to the gournd. "I'm sorry Sakura. This is something... I have to do along. I can't take you with me." She grabbed his wrist as he turned away and stopped him from moving any farther away from her. She couldn't stand to witness him go, to watch him walk out that door one final time and not come back in again. Sakura wouldn't be able to bear seeing him leave her forever.

She choked back a sob, her face inches from his, fully prepared to say anything to make him stay... even... something she had been bottling inside for months now. "But...! I love you, Sasuke-kun! And... I know it's selfish of me, but I need you to stay with me! Please!! I don't know what... I don't know what I'll do without you!" His eyes widend in shock, and he watched the tears pour despondantly down her cheeks. _She... she loves me..._ Suddenly overwhelmed by his emotions for the cherry headed medic in front of him, he abruptly took her face in his hands and he pressed his lips to hers. The Uchiha intertwined his hand in her long pink tresses to deepen the kiss, and she stared at his closed eyes for a moment in shock before shutting her own.

Sasuke had kissed her once before, while in Wind Country, but... but **nothing** like this. She felt a blush ride across her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging his face closer to hers by tangling her fingers in his spiky, raven locks. Sliding his tongue into her mouth, he massaged it against her own, and took the incentive by pushing her back through the door into his badroom, and she allowed him. "Sasuke-kun," she whispered against his lips. "Don't leave, I need you..."

"I know Sakura," his tenor voice replied huskily, "I need you too..." She moaned at his touch, wanting more, and he pressed her down onto his queen-sized bed with him, taking her lips in his own again, the black bag on his shoulder falling to the floor at his feet.

...:oOo:...

The first light of dawn shone through the window of his room, and Sasuke's eyelids fluttered open. Strange warmth emanated from on top of his upper body, and he was confused for a moment until he turned his head. Sakura was lying on his chest, her body feeling almost puzzle perfect against him. He watched her breath blowing pieces of pink hair away from her face, and her pale skin illuminated in the untimely sunbeams. He rubbed circles on the porcelain skin of her bareback, and she smiled contentedly in her sleep, and he sighed, knowing what he had to do. He slid out from under her and pulled the sheet up to her chin, tucking her in.

Sasuke slowly got dressed, trying to keep quiet so as not to awaken the sleeping woman. He slipped his sandals on over his feet, and ran a comb through his onyx colored hair. "I'm sorry Sakura," he whispered to her sleeping form, curled up under the covers of his bed. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips and she stirred slightly, but only yawned and shifted tighter under the sheets. "I have to do this. Itachi will never be brought to justice otherwise..." He left an envelope on his pillow for her to read in the morning when she awoke; explaining apologizing, taking in the burst of tears he was too guilty to see and comfort himself. he knocked a few stray strands of pink hair from her face and watched her for a moment as she slept.

Is this what I really want?

He could just forget, leave it all behind and stay with Sakura, the woman he loved with all of his heart. Disregard his revenge, and remain with his friends. Just leave it completely in the past. But the image stained into his mind when he was eight resurfaced; the image of his parents dead on the floor of this very house. And he realized that he had to avenge them, as well as the rest of his family that had been murdered by his older brother. The meeting with Uchiha Itachi had triggered an even stronger sense of needed to be powerful, and his night with Sakura made him understand that he had to protect her, Naruto, and the rest of the Seekers. He couldn't let what happened to his old family happen to his new one. He **had** to keep them safe. "Aishiteru, Sakura," he told her gently and pulled her previoulsy discarded bag onto his back with fresh determination. "And thank you for everything."

Outside, a single vampire awaited him. He wore round glasses, behind which sat cold, calculating black eyes, covered slightly with silver hair. "Sorry for not meeting you last night," Sasuke apologized, more out of feeling like he should rather than putting any meaning behind his words. "I got caught up." Kabuto nodded and beckoned the traitor to follow him. He nodded, glancing once more at his house where he knew Sakura would wake and wonder why she was all alone. And it shattered his slightly healed heart into a million pieces. But, he thought it best to destroy his emotions now, rather than have to deal with them later. After all, he was one of the bad guys now.


	13. The Ops Center Isn't Always Safe

Chapter 12: The Ops Center Isn't Always Safe

Sakura awoke and shook her head, a hand to her forehead. She looked around the unfamiliar house and furrowed her brow, trying to remember what happened last night. Reaching out, her hand touched something flat and smooth on the bed next to her, and she glanced down to it. It was an envelope that said her name on it, in very familiar handwriting.

Suddenly everything came back to her, all the memories and exactly where she was. "Sasuke?" she called into the emptiness. "Are you there?" The house was eerily silent and there clearly wasn't a soul to be had. She stood out of bed, holding the pale sheet around herself as she walked to the door of the bedroom. The sun was barely over the horizon, illuminating the house just enough that she didn't need to turn on a light.

Unable to believe her eyes, she searched the house almost obsessively. "He can't have left," she repeated, like a mantra to keep her going. But after spending two hours scouring the house, praying, hoping that he was still there, she was finally forced to accept what she had known in the back of her mind all along.

He was gone.

Sakura slumped onto Sasuke's bed and buried her face in her hands wailing at the top of her lungs.

**...:oOo:...**

Shikamaru glanced up from his report that was due after Christmas Break to see Sakura walk in with red rimmed eyes, a piece of crinkled paper in her tightened fist. Her cheeks were blotched, like she had been crying for hours and hours and hours without letting up. The pink haired woman stumbled in, and collapsed to the floor, her entire body shaking on the linoleum of the Nara kitchen, where Shikamaru sat so he could work on the report with Ino that morning. The brunet ran over to her and knelt next to her, asking in concern, "Sakura! What on earth happened?"

Without saying a word she held up the paper that was in her hand, and he took it. "Sasuke," she whispered, her voice coming out choked, clenching her fists against the floor. The boy's dark brown eyes flew across the page, getting wider and wider with each word. "Shikamaru, tell me this isn't real! Please! I love him, Shikamaru, **I love him**!!" she screamed, water dripping down her cheeks. The computer geek patted her back awkwardly, trying to calm her down. She hiccuped painfully and pressed her fists hard into the floor.

"Shikamaru?" He turned to see Ino step into the kitchen, still wearing her pajamas and her hair completely tousled around her face. Rubbing the tiredness out of her blue eyes she asked, "What's going on? Are you okay Sakura?"

"Sasuke… left to go join Orochimaru," he told her quietly, helping the shaky medic to her feet. She sniffed and wiped her eyes, but more tears just fell. "Last night he just betrayed us all." The Yamanaka could hardly believe her ears. Sure the Uchiha was a jerk sometimes, but to completely betray all of his friends? That didn't… that didn't seem like him at all!

She cried hysterically, "He's gone! He left, with nothing more than a fucking letter! I hate him, I hate him!" Ino walked over and hugged her tightly, trying to get her quiet down. Sakura shook madly but didn't outburst again, too upset to choke out another word. Why would he do that? Spend the night with her, say he loved her, and then leave? She… she thought he would stay. Stay for her! But he left, broke her heart and her will, giving her nothing by words on paper for her to go by? That didn't make up for anything, damn it! Ino and Shikamaru seemed so far away, lost amid the darkness clouding her vision. "I hate him Ino," she whispered into the purple clad girl's shoulder, trying to find some comfort in her blonde friend's embrace.

"I don't blame you Sakura," she replied, shaking her head. "Shikamaru? Would you mind calling everyone over here? I think we need to discuss a few things…" As he left Sakura pulled back, watching Ino's sapphire eyes with tears in her emerald ones.

Sakura told her, her voice still shaky, "He left me alone this morning, Ino. All alone. To wake up by myself in bed to nothing but a piece of paper with vacant words, and a warm spot on his bed to indicate that he had been there. You could never imagine… the empty feeling you get." Her voice choked and she lost her voice amidst her tears, her face buried in her shoulder again.

The rest of the Seekers arrived in two groups. Neji and Hinata showed up first, coming from the Hyuuga Complex together. They had gotten the message during a meeting and were not lightly allowed to leave, but it was out of their hands. Next to arrive was Naruto, coming from the ANBU building where he was practicing.

"This everyone?" Ino asked.

"No," Hinata said suddenly. "We're missing Tenten."

Ino snapped her fingers. "I know where she is. Shikamaru I'll be back in a few minutes, I have to go to the Ops center, I gave Tenten some work to do on the computers, and I completely forgot about it." He nodded and she was off, his chin resting in his hand. Sakura was huddled in a corner away from the group, and though they all noticed her tear stained face and trembling body, none of them knew what to say or ask. They figured that they would find out here in the meeting. They sat down at the dining room table in Shikamaru's kitchen, looking towards the genius in trepidation, not knowing what to think about the situation.

"We'll wait until she comes back, I think," Shikamaru mention, and there was a general murmur of consent from everyone save for Naruto, who growled impatiently.

"Where's Sasuke-teme?" he asked, looking around the room. "He's missing too."

Shikamaru grimaced as Sakura flinched in her seat. "That's the thing we're worried about, Naruto." The blond stared at him, shocked.

**...:oOo:...**

Ino drove down the oft taken street to the ANBU center, her thoughts spinning around frantically in her mind, not even noticing that it had started to snow. How could Sasuke have done such a thing? It still didn't make sense to her. And the empty look in Sakura's eyes was almost more than she could bear. She had never seen her best friend look like that in her life, it was as if all the life had been completely sucked out of her. It scared Ino. Sakura was so strong... but this had torn her to pieces.

She drove into the parking lot outside the seemingly abandoned building. But as she stepped out, a loud explosion sounded above her head and she saw debris fall from the side of the building, and she had to dive out of the way to avoid getting crushed. Pulling the gun strapped to her leg under her skirt out, she ran into the building, cocking it. She took the elevator to the top floor, and slid to the side, looking carefully outside of it before taking tentative steps onto the floor. The top floor was smoking, but she didn't see anyone inside, vampire or human.

"Tenten?" she called, looking around. Dust filled the air from the walls being blown in, and Ino was frightened. What could have happened here?

"There's another one, un!" a voice called, and Ino flattened against the wall, her heart pounding in her chest. She crept along the hall, one hand against the wall and the other holding out her gun, preparing to shoot anyone that came near her. Something clicked behind her, and she let out a scream as the floor collapsed beneath her. Her gun went flying out of her hand to the next story, and she hung on to the edge of the floor for her life. She didn't know what to do, her voice was gone. She couldn't call for help, and who would hear her anyway?

"Hello there." She glanced up to see a blond vampire standing above her, its face shrouded by the collar of the black cloak it was wearing. In a last ditch attempt to escape, Ino let go of the floor and crashed into the one below, a pain shooting through her ankle. She ignored it as she pulled herself off the floor, running as fast as she could down the hallway. A quick glance behind her told her that the vampire was not following her, and she burst through the doors leading to the stairwell.

A voice shouted, "Ino!" She went toppling into Tenten, but the older girl steadied them both. She was covered in blood, staining her pink shirt and her dark blue pants. Pieces of her hair had come out of it's customary buns, dangling down her back. Tenten's bangs stuck to her forehead with sweat, and she was panting. "You have to get out of here. Now, Ino. Go!"

"Wait!" Ino protested as Tenten began to shove her towards the stairs. "I can't leave without you!"

She hissed, "Yes you can! No offense, but you can't really can't protect yourself as well as I can. Just go, warn the others!" A creak sounded above them and Tenten put her hand over Ino's mouth, holding her in the shadows of the stairwell, both of them waiting with baited breath. When nothing happened, Tenten released Ino and glanced around, her labored breathing now barely a pant. The blonde's eye were full of fear, watching the normally stoic weapons specialist.

Tenten began to explain very quickly, "Something's not right here, Ino. These vampires are here, but the sun is bright in the sky. Doesn't something seem a little strange here?" Ino nodded, swallowing hard. "Something has changed, Ino, and you have to go warn the rest of the Seekers. I'll do my best to distract them."

Before she could protest again, a loud explosion went off by the double doors leading to the staircase. Ino and Tenten backed away from the smoke, choking. A blond and a red haired figure emerged from the white dust, and Tenten instinctively grabbed Ino's hand and began to pull her down the stairs, skipping a few at a time. "Run, Ino, move!" she shouted, her grip tightening on her hand. She skipped an entire story, sliding through the gap between the two sets of staircases.

As she reached the bottom door, she pushed through it. "Shit," Ino heard her curse. The blond vampire was standing there. She turned around and nearly ran into the red haired one. "_Shit_!" The two Seekers looked between the vampires, Ino trembling and Tenten gripping a weapon hidden in her shirt. The sun wasn't hurting them, and there was nothing else to do now but fight she realized grimly. She let go of Ino's hand and pulled collapsible pole out, flinging it out behind her as all the pieces fit together perfectly.

"Tenten?"

She glared at Ino. "Let's fight."

**...:oOo:...**

"She's been gone way too long," Shikamaru insisted, standing up from the table two hours after Ino had left. "This doesn't seem right, guys." He looked around at the other people in his house. Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, who was sitting lifelessly on the seat by the window, Neji and Kakashi, who had shown up not five minutes ago.

Neji spoke up next. He had been thinking the same exact thing. "You're right, Shikamaru. We need to go to the ANBU building and see what's going on." Almost everyone stood up to leave, until Sakura and Naruto were the only ones left in the kitchen. He watched her, his blue eyes sad. Her pale form was against the window, lifeless, staring blankly out into the falling snow that attached to the glass. The flakes melted and dripped like tears down the pane, reflecting on her cheeks as the tears that she didn't have the strength to shed anymore.

Quietly, Naruto strode over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura-chan," he whispered, his forehead against her soft pink hair. "I promise I'll find him for you. No... I swear I will." She made no move and he sighed, shaking his head as he turned around and began to follow his comrades out the door. He hated to leave her there alone, but he didn't have any choice. Something could be seriously wrong with Ino and Tenten.

And no matter how much he loved Sakura, he couldn't leave his teammates in danger.

**...:oOo:...**

"T...Tenten..." Ino groaned, crawling over to her friend. The girl was unconscious on the ground, her brown hair swept around her sweet face, caked in blood and debris from the explosions caused by the blond vampire. She had tried her hardest, so hard that it hurt. But neither of them were able to do very much damage to these strange creatures. Ino held a hand to her stomach, trying to stay the blood from the deep cut that had been made there. "Shikamaru..." she whimpered, laying beside Tenten and trying to protect her from the advancing creature of the night.

"Goodnight." And her vision went dark.

"Ino!" The two vampire looked up from their catch of the day to see the other Seekers with weapons drawn before them, preparing to fight. Neji hadn't called out to Tenten, but the look of fury on his handsome features was more than enough. For a moment there was absolute silence as the two Akatsuki members regarded their foes expressionlessly, and they turned and began to run with the girls in tow.

"No!" Naruto roared, his eyes turning into a bright amber as he began to follow them through the building and finally out into the thickly falling snow, leaving the rest of his team in the dust. But even with his enhanced abilities, he was unable to keep up with the two full fledged vampires, and they outran him in a few minutes. When they were out of his sight, he fell to his knees, a scream tearing through his throat as he began to beat on the snowy ground. The crater began to get wider and wider, and he didn't feel the cold of the weather or the snow.

A soft hand was put on his shoulder, and a voice whispered, "Naruto."

He looked around and saw Hinata watching him with her bright eyes half-lidded, and he stopped hitting the ground, tears dripping down his cheeks as she pulled him into her arms. "I lost them, Hinata-chan," he sobbed softly. "I lost."

"It's all right, Naruto. It's going to be all right."


End file.
